Order of Olympus
by Raya Knight
Summary: crossover gundam wingharry potter. SLASH. severitus challenge. What if Duo wasn't human? What if he was over 50, 000 years old? What if Heero was a seer who could see the past, present, and future? And he had a twin sister? PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: you know the drill. don't own. please don't sue. All of the refernces to Carpathians belong to Christine Feehan, all aspects of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, all Gundam Wing refernces belong to its owners(who I can't remember at the moment), and all references to Kaeleer belong to Anne Bishop.  
  
Series:Gundam Wing/Harry Potter(1-4)  
  
Warnings:violence,male/male romance, language  
  
Author's note: this is my first fanfic that i have posted so it will be bad. I'm putting the Gundam Wing universe seven hundred years in the future from today.Also note that this is NOT an alternate universe story. PLEASE REVIEW! it helps me write more chapters. love ya!   
  
thoughts  
  
telepathy  
  
"speech"  
  
scene change  
  
Chapter One: Operation Meteor  
  
L2, A.C. 188  
  
A lone figure stood at the edge of the smouldering ruin that once been the Maxwell Church. A faint sound came from nearby, the nun from the church. Sister Helen she was called. As the figure knelt by the dying nun, she begged the being to save the boy, said that the child had tried to protect them from the OZ soldiers. Letting go of the now limp hand, the figure moved to check the eight-year old boy ten feet away.   
  
"Is she dead?" asked the boy as the etheral looking creature drew near.  
  
"Yes. She is dead. She said that you tried to save them from the soldiers that attacked." the voice held soft thunder, one that spoke of great power.   
  
"I tried,but it didn't work. They're all dead now, even Father Maxwell." the boy was small for his age, skinny with long brown hair held back in a braid. "Are you Shinigami? My friend Solo said that there was no God, only the God of Death, Shinigami. Are you him?"  
  
The stranger's amethyst eyes glittered with leashed power, "Yes, I am the God of Death. But before you go to see your friend Solo, I must ask you something."  
  
The boy struggled to concentrate on what the stranger was saying, his breathing laboured. Ice-cold eyes narrowed as they focused on the child's chest. He didn't have much longer, his chest had been crushed by a falling beam when the church collasped into the street.   
  
"Your name?"  
  
"Duo, that's the name Solo gave me in the gang." The boy seemed compelled to tell the figure everything about him.   
  
"What I ask of you is not something to be taken lightly. My request of you is this: may I look into your mind and make your memories my own, your name will be mine, your appearence mine, to take your identity and everything that you are as my own?" Should the boy agree, the figure would become the boy in everyway, an honour only given to those who sacrifaced everything to protect the people they loved and died trying.  
  
Duo looked at the being's icy eyes, seeing only truth and respect in them. With a hoarse cough, Duo whispered, "Yes."  
  
Placing a pale hand on the boy's head, the figure closed its eyes. Images flashed, names, emotions, children laughing...crying...he held Solo in his arms as his best friend died...Sister Helen braiding his hair for the first time...Father Maxwell's dying words. On and on it went until there was no more for the figure to see. Leaving the pale hand on the child's head, the figure contoured and re-shaped until the person standing infront of Duo was his duplicate. The only difference being the bright amethyst eyes that stood out in the thin face.  
  
Smiling at his twin, the boy once known as Maxwell's Demon died. Standing up, a mischevious grin came over the youngster's face.   
  
"Now, I need to see a man about a Gundam."  
  
L2, A.C. 195  
  
"I don't care if you already have a pilot chosen! I'm a helluva lot more qualified to pilot Deathsythe then that child will ever be! I funded your project, techniquely it's mine, I'm taking it." A frustrated Duo Maxwell glared at the beak-nosed doctor.  
  
"Duo, Kyle has been training for months in the simulator. Operation Meteor launches in three days. There's no way you can learn how to work Deathsythe in that short a time! Even with your memory." Doctor G refused to let this pompous boy destroy the biggest achievement of his career, even if he was the one who had paid it.  
  
"Fine. You get your boy-toy ready. In one hour we'll have a little contest to see who is better suited to pilot the Gundam."  
  
"Deal, one hour." Doctor G grinned evilly. There was no way the untrained Duo would be able to beat a fully trained pilot.  
  
Returning to his quarters within G's facility, Duo paced back and forth trying to resist the urge to strangle the mad doctor. A presence brushed against the inner barriers of the American's mind. The psychic scent was rich with dark power, ancient and female. Without turning, Duo knew that he was no longer alone in his room.  
  
"It's been a while, Lady." Soft, husky laughter filled the silence.  
  
"So it has. Paris, wasn't it?" Amethyst eyes softed slightly at the memory.  
  
"Yes. Why are you here, Raven?" Looking over his shoulder, he took in the exotic beauty of Raven's face. Eyes slanted like the Japanese, classic bone structure of the Greeks, and soft full lips. She was small, not much more than 5'5, with long hair hair reachng to her waist. A streak of pure white ran through the wealth of her hair from her left temple.   
  
"I had a vision. Water, Earth, Wind, and Chaos move from the colonys. They will be key in this war, I suspect that they are the pilots of the other Gundams created by the Mad Five. We must join them if we are to ensure the continuation of this world."   
  
Duo looked out his window, taking in the emptiness of space. "Were the names of the pilots give to you in the vision?" Wondering if this war will different from any of the others that he had fought in, the brunette reflected on the growing darkness within him. He wasn't sure if he would last much longer against the beast, it grew with each passing moment, threatening to consume his soul if he gave up the search for his lifemate.   
  
Being a soldier didn't help much, he had to resist everytime to keep from taking the blood of the soldiers he killed.   
  
"Only the image of them was given to me. I think that you may know two of them, the others are unknowns."  
  
"Have you felt anything from Spirit recently?" Spirit being the only element they had contact with so far, they would need to be able to get their hands on him whne the time came.   
  
"Yes, he said that he was being transfered to Geneva." Duo continued to stare out at the expanse of space.   
  
"May I see them?" Raven sent the images of the four elements along their private mental path.  
  
Earth was the first image; tall and thin, a shock of hair covered one eye. Wind was next; Chinese, proud, dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, Dragon Clan symbols blazed on the fabric of his shirt. Duo remembered him, it had been almost eleven years since he had seen his nephew Wufei. Water followed; bright hair, clear kind eyes, Arabian clothes. Quartre, so many years since Duo had returned his grandson to his family. Chaos was a shock; there was Japanese blood in the boy's background, you could see it in the eyes and build, wild hair got in his eyes...eyes that held a dangerous intensity in them.  
  
Breaking the connection, Duo realized that Raven had moved to stand beside him at the window.   
  
"The darkness is getting stronger isn't it?" Her question was soft with concern.  
  
"Yes." The American drew the lady into his arms, needing to hold her, to let her clean, dark power clam the beast inside him that fought for freedom.  
  
Neither of them said anything as they stood at the window, they merely found comfort in each other's presence. With any luck, this would be the last battle they would have to fight in, let others take up the cause they had bled for.  
  
Finally, they would have peace after centuries of war throughout the galaxy. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** you know the drill. Don't own. Please don't sue. All of the references to Carpathians belong to Christine Feehan, all aspects of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, all Gundam Wing references belong to its owners (who I can't remember at the moment), and all references to Kaeleer belong to Anne Bishop.

**Series:** Gundam Wing/Harry Potter (1-4)

**Warnings:** violence, **male/male romance** (**IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS DO NOT READ IT)**, and language

**Author's note: **this is my first fanfic that I have posted so it will be bad. I'm putting the Gundam Wing universe seven hundred years in the future from today. Also note that this is NOT an alternate universe story. Also note that I'm not using the movie version of the third book in my story. I just went to see the 3rd movie, and I'm disappointed with it, so my story is ONLY the books, and not the movies. PLEASE REVIEW! It helps me write more chapters. Love ya! Oh, I also just realized that I don't remember very much of the show itself, so none of this is going to follow the storyline of the show. Oh, and one last thing, thank you so much to Jace Nova and Meg jem for beta-ing my story for me!

Thoughts

telepathy

"Speech"

Scene change

Chapter Two: The Other Pilots Part One

For the last twenty years, Earth has been at war with the colony clusters surrounding it. After being created in the year 2546 AD, the colonies were under the control and law of Earth. With the calendar being changed to "After Colony" thirty years after the original colonists had ventured out into the space surrounding the planet of their origin, the colonies began to demand their independence from Earth. Five decades of debates between the federal governments of Earth and the provincial governments of the colony clusters only caused the fight for independence to escalate into a gaping wound between the two superpowers, such a wound that had not been seen since the Second World War.

With the creation of mobile suits, giant robot like machines piloted by only the best pilots, and the assassination of the Sank royal family, Earth and the colonies declared war upon each other. The winner of the war will control the Earth, as well as, the whole of space from the moon to Mars.

Organizations such as OZ and Romafeller were created in the colonies, preaching of freedom and glory. OZ was lead by the young General Treize Kushrenada, a Russian with a flair for the dramatic and taste for blood. Romafeller was a much more minor organization that worked closely with OZ's upper level officers. It was lead by Duke Durmail, an aging man with a fanatical thirst for destruction.

But as the forces of Earth continued to grow, do to the increase of nations joining together, the colonies were having a harder and harder time forcing the Earth armies back from their borders. It was then that five scientists, each from the five colonies clusters; began creating mobile suits out of gundanium, a metal a dozen times stronger than titanium and nearly indestructible. However, since then gundanium was so rare and valuable, they were only able to create six suits that they dubbed "Gundams". To go with their massive creations, the scientists created computer software that would make the Gundams far deadlier and more destructive than ten of any other type of mobile suit to date. But since their technology was so ahead of their time, they had to find exceptional humans to pilot them. Pilots that were stronger, faster, and smarter than the average human being.

The scientist from L1, Dr. J, had found a young boy wandering on the streets. The child of five, having been raised by an assassin for the first few years of his life, was trained and modified by J to be "The Perfect Soldier". A human weapon with no emotions and ALWAYS completed the missions with precision and accuracy. His codename was Heero Yuy, after the pacifist leader from the colonies that had been assassinated twenty years before.

G, from L2, had found a boy aboard a mercenary ship. The boy was cat-like, lethal, and a borderline genius. He called himself the "God of Death" or "Shinigami". With a devil-may-care attitude and love for blowing things up, Duo Maxwell was not a person to be messed with.

Nanashi or No Name was found right under M's nose. Trowa Barton, the only son of the wealthy Barton family, had been recruited to be the pilot for M's Gundam had been killed in a bar fight before the Gundam had been completed. Nanashi had been one of the mechanics for the Gundam and had offered to used Trowa's name and pilot the mobile suit. The silent ex-mercenary was found to be an even better pilot that Barton was and deadly with a knife.

With Winner Enterprises Inc. financing the creation of S's Gundam, the dilemma of who was going to pilot the mobile suit had come to a point when Peter Winner had refused to allow his only son and heir, Quatre, to pilot the Gundam. Against his father's wishes, Quatre joined the Managuacs, a group of mercenaries, and continued to be trained for the piloting the Gundam S had created.

The L5 colony had financed the development of Master O's Gundam. The Dragon Clan sought to bring honour to their family by having their heir pilot the Gundam. Having refused, the Gundam was with out a pilot. But when the colony had been invaded and destroyed, the last of the once powerful Dragon Clan, Chang Wufei, agreed to pilot the mobile suit to take revenge against those that had murdered his clan.

The final pilot was a woman by the name of Guinevere Malachi or Raven as she was usually called. She had no known place of origin but was found to a brilliant strategist and assassin. Her Gundam was created by all of the scientists, and was designated the commander on the six pilots, as she was the only one with previous military experience.

With the Gundams finally completed and the pilots ready; the scientists launched Operation Meteor in After Colony 195; no one knew that the six meteors seen that day from space contained the hope and destiny of the colonies inside them. And unknown to those in the Sol system, those six pilots were the only thing that could keep the darkness spreading across the galaxy from destroying everything in it's path.

Dark eyes moved constantly, watching for workers that could come upon him as he was downloading the virus into the factory's computer system. Fingers flashed, data covered the screen, casting a ghastly glow on the pilot's face.

Satisfied that the job was done to perfection, Pilot 01 moved quickly through the complex towards his Gundam. Few soldiers guarded the entrances along the gunmetal walls, 01 easily disposed of them with a quick efficiency.

Reaching the final platform, 01 prepared to jump over the railing and detonate the bombs that he had planted inside many of the mobile suits within the factory. Seeing the sea below him, he bunched his muscles, preparing to jump.

"HHHEERRROOOO" K'so. It was that damn girl again from the school. She'd been following him since he had landed on Earth. He still didn't know how she found him every time.

FLASHBACK 

A girl was standing in front of him on the beach where he lay. She looked to be about his age with cornflower blue eyes and wheat gold hair. Innocence flowed around her like an invisible shawl; he didn't dare speak to her, just get rid of her.

"Hello? Are you alright"

01 looked at her with disdain. Pulling himself up, he moved past her, avoiding the outstretched hand. He couldn't bring himself to kill her despite his conditioning. Something told him that she would be useful in the future. If not, he'd kill her then.

"I don't need your help." The words were soft, but he was sure she had heard them. Leave me alone, girl.

Seeing a truck parked on the roadway above the beach, 01 climbed in and quickly hotwired the engine before the girl tried to talk to him again. Tires squealed as he punched the gas.

END FLASHBACK 

Her named turned out to be Relena Dorlan, only child of Senator Dorlan, a pacifist who sought to bring peace through negotiations. She had been a student at the school he had been forced to enrol in to complete this mission. She had even tried to invite him to her birthday party. He had never expected her to follow him to a mobile suit factory. What the hell is she trying to accomplish?he wondered.

Turning towards her, with his gun aimed directly at her heart, he could see that she was still dressed in that ridiculous school uniform of maroon coloured wool. From experience, he knew that the uniforms that the school provided were beyond uncomfortable.

"Omae or Korosu." (1) The words were delivered with lethal calm. She would die.

"Now, I don't know if the customs are different around here, but where I come from it's considered rude to point a gun at a lady." The voice came from behind the Dorlan girl. The words were joking, but the gun held in the slim hands wasn't. Surprise raced through 01, this was his mission. Who the hell was this character?

The figure wore the clothing of a priest; a black baseball cap covered the eyes in a heart-shaped face. A long, chestnut braid swayed gently against the obviously male teenage form. You would expect hair like that on an assassin would be impractical. Though he holds the gun like he knows how to use it.

"Lady, if you would be so kind as to move, I'll get rid of this guy for ya." The boy's head came up, revealing eyes of glittering amethyst. His eyes…their so beautiful. Stop it, Yuy! Complete the mission, get out of there.

Unnerved by the intensity of the teen's eyes, Heero kept his gun trained on Relena and stepped forward. Pain sliced through his left arm, causing him to drop his gun in shock at the wound. The boy had shot him! That was a stupid move, child.

Bending down to pick up his gun, but keeping his eyes on Relena and the armed boy, Heero completely missed the warning the teen gave before another bullet went through his left thigh. Damn it!

The dark-eyed boy could hear Relena yelling at the braided teen as she rushed to him, trying to stop the bleeding despite Heero pushing her away each time. "Get off me."

Shouts from the factory workers came from above them. Locking eyes once more the purple-eyed boy before pushing the girl away and vaulting over the railing into the Pacific Ocean. The cold of the water shocked him out of the reverie the amethyst jewels had put him under. "Mission Accomplished."

A mission to get the plans for the new mobile suits OZ was building had gone astray. One of the scientists had come in on him as he was downloading the virus that would destroy the base's computer system. The scientists had sounded that alarm before Heero was able to kill him, forcing the Japanese pilot to fall back on his reserve plan of blowing the base to high heaven. As he reached the perimeter of the base's defences, a stray bullet had gone through his shoulder. K'so! The injury was not acceptable.

Running like heel hounds were on his heels, the blue-eyed teenager moved easily through the base, dodging bullets and OZ soldiers as he ran. Branches slapped against his face, leaves cut him as he raced through the forest.

Seeing the wire fence before him, Heero put on an extra burst of speed and jumped. Shouts continued to come from the other side of the fence as he landed; only now they were coming from both sides as well. Dogs barking could be heard as he took off again, heading into the hills where his Gundam was stashed.

The soldiers and tracking dogs where precious minutes behind him when he finally reached Wing. Climbing up the seventeen metre high machine, and strapping himself in, the Japanese pilot started up the computers as he prepared to detonate the bombs he had placed throughout the enemy base before being interrupted.

Through his screen, Heero could see the base and its soldiers. "Mission Accomplished" The red button was pushed and a cascade of explosions ripped through the compound and surrounding areas. Slamming his thrusters into full, Heero easily guided the Gundam away from the burning rubble and towards the cavern where his Gundam was stored during his time spent undercover at an academy supposedly run by the OZ corporation.

Now, he only had to wait a few more days before his controller would have him moved to another safehouse or school. Hopefully one where Relena wouldn't find him. That girl is a liability and a danger to his mission, she will not be tolerated much longer, consequences be damned. Next time he heard the annoying cry coming from he throat, he was shooting before she got her hands on him.

Heero's cold eyes gleamed as his hands moved easily over the controls of his Gundam, just a few more days.

"Howard! Where's that damn converter?" yelled the disgruntled American, poking his head out from under the shuttle for a moment. This repair was only supposed to have taken two hours, it was now going on three days and Duo was ready to give up on the stupid thing if he couldn't get it started in the next hour. Unfortunately, it was the only ship that size the Sweepers had, and they needed everyone they could get.

"Hold your horse, I'm coming! I'm coming! Remy, pass me the converter and the number two wrench would ya?" grinning at the frustrated "kid"(2) in front of him, Howard, Head of the Sweepers, passed down the final part to the American's outstretched hand.

"Thanks." Came the muttered response from under the shuttle. Brushing off his bright Hawaiian t-shirt, Howard waited for the pilot to finish what he was doing before telling him the news. Sliding out from under the busted shuttle, and wiped his hands off on a greasy towel, Duo threw a grin at the taller man.

"That should do it." The boy was the best damn mechanic Howard had ever seen, but he never stayed with them long. Free spirit and all.

"Duo, a call came in from G. Says you got a new mission. Something about meeting up with other pilots at some school in London. Supposedly, the docs want you all to work together now, thinks that maybe you'll be able to do more damage that way or something." The braided pilots eyes regarded the older man, but said nothing. That only happened when there was something else involved that Howard knew nothing about and probably didn't want to know.

"I'll look at it once I try this thing okay? Though if G wants all of us to start working together, far be it from me to object. Just gives me more people to terrorize. I hear that the pilot from L5 has a real stick up his ass." The elfin face lit up with an evil smirk.

Howard only groaned at the thought of Duo having more people to scare the shit out of. "Only you would take such pleasure out of getting a rise out of people." Duo just grinned and tried the engine ignition. The engine sputtered and went dead; the pilot frowned, giggled the controls a little and tried again. This time the engine roared to life.

"She lives!" the cry of triumph could be heard through the entire hanger. Cheers went up as the other Sweepers came to congratulate the grinning Teen on getting the old junker up and running. Laughing at the other Sweeper's compliments, he turned back to Howard.

"Alright now, I'll go see what the mad scientist has to say. That fine with you, Howie?" A smirk slid onto the teen's face, as he heard the inevitable, "Don't call me Howie!" behind him as he took off towards the control centre with Howard's shout on his heels.

The day itself was not different from any other day that week, for any person other than a gundam pilot. This day would be crucial to the rest of the war; not that any of the pilots knew that of course. All of the pilots had received orders from their controllers to be in the courtyard of Lord Tennyson Secondary School, London, England, at exactly 2 in the afternoon on the 16th of May, A.C. 195. Though none of the scientists would elaborate at the reason for them being there, the pilots assumed that it was to either meet a new contact for their latest mission or possibly other gundam pilots like themselves. It was more likely to be for meeting the other pilots as there had been reports of mobile suit attacks on all of the continents in the last few months.

Arriving just before 2, the American pilot leaned against one of the fountains near a stone archway, watching the aspiring students come and go.

"Duo!" turning, the braided teen saw a bright flash of blond before he was nearly bowled over by the smiling Arabian pilot.

Laughing, he returned the boy's hug enthusiastically.

"Hey Cat! It's great to see ya! You would not believe the traffic trying to get here! You'd think it was the Fourth of July or somethin'."

The bright-eyed teen pulled back and gave the brunette a broad grin. IT had been a month since he had seen the American and he had missed the crazy jokes the boy was always spouting off like there was no tomorrow. Duo could talk for hours if you let him, about everything and anything under the sun too.

"You never change do you, Duo? Always laughing at the world." Remarked the shorter blond as he shook his head good-naturedly.

"Well why no? Somebody should, God only knows I'm good at it. Have ya seen any of the others yet?" the longhaired brunette bounced from foot to foot like he couldn't sit still for more than a minute. Quatre was about to reply when he saw the tall, lanky pilot of Heavy Arms heading in their direction.

"Look, there's Trowa! Trowa! Over here!" shouted Quatre, waving his arm to get the tall pilot's attention. The darkly dressed teenager turned to observe the newcomer.

"Is that the guy you were telling me about? The one you were crushing on?" asked Duo, enjoying the blush that crept up the blond's neck. Bouncing up to the other brunette, Duo introduced himself.

"Hi! I'm Duo Maxwell, I run and hide, but I never lie."

"Trowa Barton." The words were quiet, but the American could easily hear it due to extraordinary hearing that came with being a gundam pilot. The braided teen grinned.

"Nice ta meet ya. Cat here's been tellin' me all about ya. Hey, would ja have happened to see any stray pilots running around here? We seem to be missing two that I know of."

"Here comes one, I think." Murmured Quatre as he looked over the braided youth's shoulder. The two brunettes swivelled to watch the scowling youth heading towards them. Duo bound up to greet the boy.

"Hiya! Ya know, the last time we met I never caught your name. Mind you I really couldn't here anything over that girl's chalkboard screeching. So what your name, buddy?" Cold eyes turned to the slightly shorter teen with no expression on his face.

"Hn."

"Wow. Guess you're not very talkative. Well. I am. Have you ever heard that it's kinda dangerous to jump over the railing like that into the sea? You really should be more careful."

"It was an acceptable risk to complete the mission."

"_It was an acceptable risk to complete the mission_. What are ya, a robot or somethin'? The missions aren't as important as getting out alive and in one piece, buddy. Anyway, whatcha been doin' for the last few months?" Duo continued to jabber on. Even though the Asian pilot ignored him.

Quatre came up to the new pilot and offered his hand.

"Hello, I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. It's nice to meet you." The Asian teen didn't take Quatre's offered hand, but looked at it with disgust. He obviously didn't think that comrade was necessary to the mission.

"Heero Yuy." Like his cold blue eyes, his voice sent cold shills down the blond's spine. This one would need care handling if they were to work together effectively. Quatre smiled when Heero introduced himself, now there should only be one more pilot left to wait for.

"Kisama. The controllers would pick a public place wouldn't they? Hoping to stop Yuy from killing the jabbering baka mostly likely." The sneering comments came from another Asian teen dressed in white.

"Chang." Murmured Heero, acknowledging the youth with a small nod of his head. Duo's grin came back on at full force when he walked up to the black-haired teen and offered his hand.

"Hi! I'm Duo Maxwell. I run and hide, but I never lie."

"Chang Wufei." Said the pilot as he stared at the boy who appeared to be on a permanent sugar high.

"So, have you seen a short woman around here with flame-coloured hair, Change?" asked the bouncing Duo.

"Wufei."

"Huh?"

"In China, we introduce ourselves with our family name first. My first name is Wufei."

"Oh, okay, Wuffie. So have ya seen a woman around here with red hair?"

"No, I have not seen any onnas with red hair. And it's _Wufei_ not _Wuffie_." Wufei practically snarled out the last sentence as he looked down at the American teen. "We should move to someplace more private, this place is too open to be discussing important matters."

Heero, Trowa, and Quatre nodded in agreement and moved towards a small grove at the edge of the courtyard, Duo chattering the whole way there.

When they all had arrived in the grove, a voice cut through Duo's talking.

"Finally, it's about time you all got here! I've been waiting forever!" Sitting on a low tree branch was a deep wine red-haired woman in her late teens to very early twenties. Her cat-like gold eyes seemed to be full of wisdom though her lips were quirked in amusement. She beckoned to Duo. "Come here and help me down, Duo."

The American, strangely silent, approached the branch, allowing the woman to rest her tiny hands on his shoulders before grasping her slim waist to lift her down. She was small, her features were a mix of many races, and making it impossible to tell what nationality she was.

"My name is Guinevere Malakai. Most call me Raven. I'll be your commanding officer when the docs aren't around, which just happens to be pretty much all the time. You'll get your missions through me. Follow my orders and we'll get along fabulously."

"Women have no place in war. Why should we take orders from you? You're nothing but a weak onna." Said Wufei contemptuously. Before any of them could blink, Wufei was lying on his back with Raven holding a knife to his throat.

"Now what were you saying about me being weak? It seems I'm pretty strong if I can take down a big _man_ like you before you can react. Just remember, I may be small, but I've got a lot of power. Most people underestimate me. _Don't_ make that mistake again. Are we clear?" Wufei gave a nod, reluctant respect shone in his eyes. "Good." Raven moved off of Wufei and offered him her hand to help him up. Wufei looked at the small, leather gloved hand for a moment before tentatively taking hold of it and allowed the flame-haired woman to pull him to his feet.

"When are you going give up threatening people before you even know their name, Raven?" asked Duo breathlessly, still trying to recover from laughing himself silly at Raven and Wufei's unconventional introduction.

"When you stop talking, Duo-love." She replied sweetly, knowing full well that hell would freeze over before the American pilot ever stopped talking for more than five minutes. "Now, I've introduced myself and I already know Duo here, would the rest of you mind giving me your name, the colony you're from, specialty, call sign, and what the name of your gundam is?"

Quatre stepped forward.

"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner from the L4 colony cluster, my specialty is strategy, call sign 04,and my gundam's name is Sandrock." Waterthought Raven.

"Trowa Barton, L3 cluster, stealth and infiltration, 03, HeavyArms." Earth

"Chang Wufei, L5 cluster, combat, 05, Nataku."Wind

"Heero Yuy, L1 cluster, strategy, infiltration, explosives, 01 and Wing Zero." Chaos

"I'm Duo Maxwell from L2, my specialty is blowing stuff up, call sign is 02-don't you think that's such a dumb call sign? I mean what I really want to be called is Shinigami, the God of Death-"

"Duo, please."

"Sorry, Ray. Anyway, my gundam's named Deathsythe. Cool, huh?" Fire

"Yes, Duo. It's a very nice name." Soothed Raven in her older-person-talking-to-little-kid voice. Raven resisted the urge to pat Duo on the head. Turning her gold eyes on the four other teens, Raven said, "Time to move out. We need to get to the safe house before dark and get the sleeping arrangements settled. We're going to be sharing a lot of places in this war, we might as well work things out while we have the time to do so."

Later that day…

"No! There is no way that I am sharing a room with that braided buffoon Maxwell!" screamed the black-haired teen when he was told that he would have to room with Duo. Raven watched him yelled at the "injustice" of the situation calmly and with no outward concern. She merely stood next to the banister in the small, rundown house that was to be their safe house for the next month, with her arms crossed.

"I'll share." Murmured the Japanese pilot. Though you could not see his eyes through the wayward chocolate locks hiding them, it was easy to tell that they held no semblance of human emotion in them. His eyes were so cold that as the pilots had left the courtyard, Heero had made a little girl cry by just looking at her!

"Yay! I knew I liked you for a reason, Heero!" cried the ecstatic teen, throwing his arms around Heero's neck. Heero turned his steely eyes on the brunette before shoving him away.

"Baka, get off me." The dark-haired teen grabbed the duffel bag resting by his feet and proceeded up the stairs, most likely towards the bedroom he would be sharing with Duo. Deathsythe's pilot quickly followed Heero up the stairs, still jabbering on.

Raven gave a small smile as she watched the antics between the two. "Ah, Duo. You'll never change."

"How long have you know him, Miss Malakai?" asked the short blond politely.

"Just Raven, Quatre. Titles will become very cumbersome over time; better to just use our give names. I've known Duo for many years, though it has been about a year or so since we have seen each other. It seems like I've known him for centuries." A mysterious tilt came to her full lips and stars twinkled in her amber eyes. There was something very unusual about Guinevere "Raven" Malakai, the things she said, the way she moved was unlike anyone Quatre had ever meet. However, Raven seemed very capable as a leader. Quatre's "Space Heart" or empathic ability told him that Raven wasn't one to be trifled with in any situation. There was a great deal of power in that tiny body of hers, and the Arab had no intention of being on the receiving end of it. Shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts, Quatre picked up his own duffel and headed upstairs to see which bed would be his during their stay in the safe house.

Over the next few months, the pilots fought, ate, slept, and housed together in various safe houses throughout the Earth. In that time together, camaraderie developed and friendship. As they learned more about each other and their respective pasts, a sense of protectiveness grew as well, as all of the pilots were orphans except for Quatre. They firmed a new family, although dysfunctional in many ways as Duo had a habit of playing pranks on Wufei and Heero, causing said pilots to chase the braided teen around the house trying to get revenge. One incident left Wufei's gundam, Nataku, painted hot pink. To say that the Chinese pilot had been angry would have been an understatement. This of course led to one of Chang's numerous rants about "braided bakas" and the "injustice" of having to live with them.

Though there had been instances in those months where one or more of the pilots had been injured, none had been so seriously incapacitated as to required medical treatment beyond outside the knowledge of the various pilots. The only real scare that they had had was Quatre taking a hit from an Aries suit during one mission that left him with a mild concussion, five cracked ribs, a fractured wrist, and a few gashes that required several stitches.

It was not until early December of A.C. 195 that the pilots were forced to test the newfound bonds of friendship and family.

It had seemed to be a simple mission: just get in, get the info, and blow the base mission. Duo had been given the mission, as he was the best at stealth. It was supposed to only take about eight hours at the most, but twelve had passed and all of the pilots were worried. Something had gone wrong; Duo could be injured or worse…dead.

Trowa was the one to discover that the pilot had been captured while watching an emergency broadcast on the late night Moscow news. The television screen showed three Oz soldiers, two holding a young boy between them. A boy that wore priest's clothes and had a long chestnut braid.

"Let this be a warning to the colonies, especially the gundam pilots. We have one of your terrorists." The Oz soldier took a moment to pull Duo's head up to show his bruised face. "If you do not surrender to the control of Earth in the next forty-eight hours, we will execute him and place his remains on display as an example of what will happen if you continue to defy Earth." As the broadcast ended and returned to the news, the gathered pilots looked at each other in shock.

"So what now? How are we going to get him out of there?" asked a very distressed Quatre.

"We don't. He's now a liability to the mission. He must be silenced," replied Heero in a matter of fact tone of voice.

"Heero!" Quatre cried in utter shock, "How can you say that? Duo's your partner and he's our friend! We can't just kill him! There has to be some other way, a way that involves Duo coming out _alive_ rather than in a body bag."

"Yuy's right. We can't extract Maxwell without risking ourselves as well. One pilot dead is better than multiple pilots. One death for the greater good and the continuation of the colonies." stated Wufei. Quatre whirled to face their commander, hoping that she would refuse to allow Duo to die in an Oz prison or by their own hands.

"Raven say something! Tell them we'll get Duo out of there!"

Raven raised sad eyes to meet the desperate eyes of the young heir of the Winner Enterprises.

"I'm sorry, Quatre, but we have no choice. Keeping the colonies safe is our primary purpose here on Earth. If keeping the colonies and the information we have from Oz means killing Duo…then we have to take that option. War is full of sacrifices for the greater good. This has to be one of them." Her words were soft and soothing, but they could not soothe the grief that Quatre felt at the prospect of losing his first true friend.

"No! I won't accept that. Duo's too valuable to us just to let him die!" Tears streaked the blond's face as he ran from the room. Trowa stood to follow the grieving pilot, but the small woman stopped him.

"Let him go, Trowa. He needs time to deal with this himself before talking to anyone." The European pilot cocked his head in acknowledgement of the lady's words, but his emerald eyes still followed the little pilot's path.

"Which one of us is going to be the one to break into the base?" asked the onyx-eyed warrior from his place by the study's only window. Gold eyes came to rest on the Japanese pilot sitting at the study's table, laptop resting before him. The teen's head gave a sharp nod and swift fingers danced across the keyboard, bringing up the blueprints of the base that Duo was being held captive in. It was only appropriate that Duo be killed by his unofficial partner. Before the next sunrise, Duo Maxwell would be dead.

Darkness surrounded Duo, but it was not the darkness that worried him. It was the light. For with the light would bring death. Not that he was afraid of death, quite the contrary; he relished the idea of dying. Of finally being released from the role he had played for so long. The American was tired of war, of the constant struggle of humans for power. Maybe, just maybe, he would no longer have to wake to the knowledge that he would kill, that his lifemate was never coming. The light to his darkness. For three thousand years, at least by this planet's measure of time, he had searched for that one person who would stop the darkness in him, the one person who would be his salvation. He had watched the rise and fall of great empires, the battles that ripped the land apart, and the blood that bathed the earth, while waiting for his lifemate. But no longer, now he would have peace. Now he would meet the dawn and die.

Gunshots fired outside the door to his cell. What in the hell? It couldn't possibly be one of the guys; Raven wouldn't have allowed them to come after me. It was too risky. Shouts followed more gunfire. Then there was silence.

The door to his cell flew open, casting a bright shaft of light over Duo's sprawled body, temporarily blinding him. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the light, the brunette could make out the wild hair and muscled body of his partner.

"Come to kill me, Heero?" asked the usually joking pilot. Heero raised his handgun to point at Duo's forehead.

"Yes. You are a liability to the mission."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll thank you kindly if you'd get on with it then. Can't keep the reaper waiting after all. And do me a favour? Shoot me in the heart rather than the head?" Duo shakily got to his feet, he'd be damned if he was going to die lying on the ground like an animal.

Heero cocked the gun and aimed for the American's heart.

Minutes passed and there was neither a gunshot nor the sound of a corpse hitting the ground.

Duo's amethyst eyes sparkled. "Can't do it, can ya?"

Heero's eyes narrowed in determination and he shifted his stance. Still he did not fire.

Heero let his arm fall to his side. He could not kill the American for reasons he himself didn't know.

Moving quickly to the longhaired teen's side, he put Duo's left arm around his neck and grasped Duo around the waist before starting to head for the cell entrance, allowing the American to lean on him for support.

Why could I not kill him? Wondered Heero as he quickly navigated himself and his partner through the labyrinth of halls. Beside him, Duo allowed himself a small smirk to pass over his elfin features as he continued to hobble down the hall.

He couldn't so it! Perhaps my nagging finally got through to him. My words of friendship broke through the cold walls around his heart. Duo looked over at his partner. Heero's lips were drawn tight as if he were disgusted with something or someone. If I have gotten this far with him in so little time, maybe there is hope for him yet.

Heero hotwired one of the base's vehicles, ignoring the American's searching stare as he did it. Yes, there just maybe hope for him yet.

(1) I'll kill you

(2) This will be explained in the next couple of chapters. Probably the fourth one but I'm not dead certain at the moment.

(3) Women

PLEASE REVIEW! IT HELPS ME WRITE!


	3. Author's Note

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. I haven't updated because my muses have decided to take a vacation without informing me ahead of time. – thanks lot guys – anyway, I will probably be updating in the next month or so once they get back and because I have now finally finished high school. Anyway, here's the heads up on the story, it's not dead just in progress.

Raya Knight


	4. Story Poll

Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in like a year but I've been really busy with school. However, THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD! IT'S JUST HAVING DIFFICULTIES AT THE MOMENT. i.e. / my second chapter is being a pain in the ass, yada yada yada. Anyway, since I'm having problems writing the chapter, maybe someone can help me out by answering the following two polls that I'm agonizing over.

POLL#1: Relena

Now, I have scenes with her being both nice and a bitch. Here are the choices and I will follow through with which ever wins.

Relena is nice and has no problems with the pilots being attracted to each other and can let go of Heero when he ends up with someone that is not her.

Relena is a complete bitch and vows to break up Heero and his partner because she believes that Heero is destined to be with her forever, etc.

POLL#2: Dumbledore

Again, scenes with him being a manipulative bastard and him just not knowing because of some magical thing that we authors think up off the tops of our heads.

Dumbledore is a bastard and Heero, Duo, and Harry (and various others but that would give away the plot) try to stop him and put him away for good.

Dumbledore just didn't know because of the complex magical thing that no one can understand. And therefore is innocent but not yet forgiven.

I welcome all reviews EXCEPT FLAMERS! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GAY RELATIONSHIPS YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR INTO MY CHAPTERS! Press the nice little BACK button and go away! Luv ya lots!

Raya Knight


	5. Chapter Three

Please note that the Disclaimer can be found in the first two chapters as I have no desire to constantly repeat myself.

Chapter Three (Previously called Chapter Two Part Two)

1 week after Duo's capture…

The Japanese pilot looked up from the computer screen in front of him to glance at the sleeping form of his partner on the other side of the room. Green and yellow bruises marred the heart-shaped face, making it a ghastly work of art that strangely, caused Heero's heart to stutter. For the past seven days, Heero had been questioning his actions, his reasons for saving the loudmouthed pilot that, for all appearances, was completely incompetent as a soldier and a liability to their mission.

It seemed to the brunette that every time he thought of Duo being hurt or killed, something in him stopped and – well Heero wasn't exactly sure what it did. Feelings towards the American were beginning to crack through the façade that Heero had perfected since childhood, ever since Dr. J had found him on the street after Odin's death.

Odin…it had been so long since Heero had last thought of the assassin who had cared for him as a child. He didn't know if they had been related but the aging assassin had cared for Heero in his own way. Odin Lowe was the only "family" that Heero had ever known, if Heero could even call him family.

/But that's not true now is it? You have the other, the one who has always been with you no matter where you are. You care for her. You have feelings for her, despite J's training./ A voice, his conscience Heero assumed, reminded him of the one within his mind, and the girl he called Keara though he didn't think that was her real name. She had always been in Heero's mind, sharing his experiences, sharing her own with Heero. Memories and images of other children, siblings Heero assumed, adults, friends, swimming in the ocean, laughing and enjoying life. The only childhood Heero had had was through her. If Heero ever told anyone that he was able to speak with another in his mind, and had always felt her in the back of his mind, never truly being separate, they would ship him off to a mental institution. Heero wasn't crazy, he knew he wasn't, he just wasn't shat you would call normal.

Heero's thoughts turned back to his slumbering partner. What was he going to do about the American? Heero didn't need nor want him around or as a partner. Heero didn't need anyone.

**Liar. You have always needed someone, Heero, even if it was only me. You care about Duo; you don't want to see him hurt. That's why you saved him from execution instead of executing him yourself. He's your friend. You need human companionship, brother, not just me. I cannot be your only connection to humanity. You are still human; you just have to realize that for yourself. ** Her voice filled his mind, soothing him with the cadences of her words rather than with the words themselves. She always seemed able to do that, jar him out of his thoughts when he began to think of himself as just a weapon; jar him out of the brainwashing that his training had forced into his mind. **What do I need of human companionship, Keara? I'm a soldier, we don't need such things, and we especially don't need friendship. We're at war, people die in war. Why should I have friends? I'm going to die in this war anyways.** Heero returned sardonically. He could hear her mental sigh and see her shake her head in his mind. **You'll never learn to be anything else BUT a soldier in life, brother, if you don't allow yourself to experience emotions. And if you think that I'm going to let you die in this war, you have another thing coming! ** A tiny smile came over Heero's face at her mock anger. ** I had better; go your friend is waking up. Talk to him, Heero, you may find that he is more than what he seems. ** Heero frowned in confusion. **What do you mean? Keara? Answer me! ** Her laughter flowed over him but she refused to answer his demands.

Muttering about insolent women in his mind, Heero turned his attention back to his laptop and mission report. He heard movement behind him as Duo began to wake but refused to allow himself to look at the American, still believing him to be nothing except a distraction in his mission, despite his sister's words.

"Heero?" Duo mumbled from the bed. Glancing over his shoulder, the Japanese pilot saw his partner sitting up and rubbing at his eyes to get the sleep out of them.

"Go back to sleep, baka."

Duo ignored the harsh words. "You woke me up, now how do you expect me to sleep?" Duo looked at the clock on the nightstand between their two beds. "Hee-chan, it's three in the morning, haven't you slept at all in the last week? You've been going not stop since we got back from the mission. Since you save my life." The American was silent for a moment, listening to his stubborn partner typing diligently away at his laptop. "Never thanked you for that did I?"

"It is of no consequence. Leave it."

Duo refused to be brushed off yet again by his friend. "No, I won't leave it! Damn it Heero! I know that you were sent there to kill me! But you didn't and every time I try and say something to you, you bite my head off! I can't even say hi to you with out getting a gun pointed at my head! I'm trying to be your friend but goddamnit you make it hard!" By this point Duo was pacing the room like a caged animal radiating with anger and frustration at the puzzle Heero presented to him.

"Don't call me that."

"What!" Duo stopped his pacing to stare at the brunette in front of the computer. Realizing what Heero had said, Duo exploded again. "Off all the things you focus on you focus on what I called you!"

Duo began to pace in faster this time muttering about infuriating perfect soldiers.

"Shut up, baka, and go back to sleep. I'm trying to finish this mission report."

"Oh, it's always about the mission with you, isn't it Heero? There's nothing but the mission. You can't go outside and enjoy life in the few chances we get; you have to always be on a mission of one kind or another."

Heero finally got fed up with the braided teen's rant. "We're at war. We're soldiers; the mission is all we have. We don't have to luxury to "enjoy life" as you say." Cold steel eyes watched the American.

"There is more to life than war, Heero. If you can't see that then there's no hope for you. If you don't have something to live for then you won't survive this war. That's what gets most of us "humans" through this." Duo was getting angrier by the minute. Heero didn't know it but he had touched on one of Duo's few sensitive spots, one of the few left after the long centuries.

The Japanese pilot watched as the American seemed to draw his anger within himself, becoming cold and distant, his eyes like hard ice, and his face colder than Heero himself. The temperature within the room seemed to drop several degrees; ice began to form on the window.

"Duo?"

The teen ignored Heero's question. "I suppose it was too much to ask you for friendship, however, I did not believe that it was too much to ask you to at least see beyond the façade that others project. You are not the only one who wears a mask, Heero Yuy. I have asked little of you. I merely wished for you to at least see me as your partner if not friend. I had hoped that I would be able to help you see passed the training J had forced upon you and gotten you to see that your life is worth the same as any one else's and not a commodity to be traded. It would appear that I was wrong. My apologies."

Giving the surprised teen a departing nod, Duo walked out of their shared room.

/What in Kami's name just happened// Thought Heero as he watched in barely concealed shock as the American walked regally from the room. /That wasn't the Duo that I remember. Something changed when he was captured./

**You screwed up brother. That was your big chance and you blew it. Congratulations. I hope you're happy now. Now you really don't have any friends. ** Keara's angry voice rang through Heero's mind. There were few times in his life that Heero could remember when Keara had been mad at him for something, this was by far the only time she had ever gone cold on him. **Keara-** Heero's thought hit a mental block between himself and Keara, the first he had ever encountered from her. Realizing that he had truly screwed up this time, Heero sat back and tried to think of a way to fix the situation. Frustrated at his inability to function in social situations and without the help of his sister, the Japanese pilot snarled several swear words before heading after his American partner.

Heero searched for nearly three hours before he found his pissed off partner. When he finally found Duo, the sky had turned dark and ominous with the threat of a storm bordering on the horizon.

Duo was sitting in the upper reaches of a very large oak tree about five kilometres east of their safe house, so well hidden within the branches that Heero had nearly missed him. If he hadn't heard Duo's voice raised in song he would have continued passed the tree.

While Heero was severely tempted to berate the American for risking both his own and Heero's safety by running away from the safe house, Heero, for once, wisely keep his comments to himself and merely approached the other teen cautiously. Looking up into the tree, Heero's sharp eyes found the American resting on a large branch about one hundred feet above him, one leg singing back and forth as the boy sand to the birds that were sitting on the branches around him.

Slowly Heero climbed up the tree, knowing full well that the American probably heard him coming, the boy had senses that rivalled Heero's own enhanced sense.

"You're not welcome here, Yuy." /Damnit, he's really pissed off. He hasn't called me Yuy since we first meet. / Anger darkened amethyst eyes turned on the Japanese pilot perched on a branch below to him. Duo's position within the trees struck Heero as ethereal in a way, as if Duo wasn't human, a creature of a race that no longer walked this earth. Like Duo was fey, or some otherworldly being. Heero stared silently; transfixed by the vision of his partner as the ethereal being he appeared to be in this tree, like Duo truly belonged within the trees and nature in general.

"Gomen. Gomen Nasai" Heero whispered.

"_I'm sorry, isn't going to cut it this time, Yuy. Until you can realize that your life matters just as much as the next person's, you will be nothing other than a weapon that J created to play a role in this war. Until you can realize that you are human just like the rest of us, we are no longer friends._" It took Heero a minute to realize that Duo was speaking in Japanese. /When did he learn to speak Japanese? He never showed an aptitude for it before./ Duo's eyes flashed for a moment before he continued. _"There are many things that you don't know about me, Yuy. Things you never bothered to learn because you see me and everyone around you as a threat to your mission. There is far more to life than "the mission". Maybe one day you'll realize that. Perhaps the female will be able to make you realize that. You don't seem to listen to anyone but her."_

"Since when has mind reading been one of your skills?"

"I've always been able to read you Heero. You're an open book to me. Always have been. Perhaps because I see much of myself within you, you seem surprised at that." Heero's eyes had widened at the admission, though they narrowed in suspicion as the American continued. How could the teen possibly know what he was thinking? What the hell was he?

Suddenly the birds surrounding them began to scream and fly in every direction. Both teens sat up in attention, scanning their surroundings as they were warned by the animals in the forest.

A wave of something…..evil spread throughout the forest. Heero could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Something was out there, something that was innately evil and meant them harm.

A rumbling growl came from the teen above him, Heero turned to look at Duo when he realized the sound was coming from the American.

"Stay here." Ordered Duo has he stood up on the branch.

"02-" The Japanese pilot's voice bore a sharp warning as he watched his partner. The brunette turned back to the teen. "Don't worry so much, Heero. I'll be fine." A sardonic smile brushed the fey teen's face.

With those words, Duo took a running leap from the branch he stood on, plummeting down through the tree to the ground below. Heero felt his heart clench at the sight as the American fell. He let out a small breath of relief when the teen landed on his feet and took off running towards the source of evil that they had both sensed.

Swiftly climbing down the tree, Heero raced to follow his partner, wherever the insane pilot was headed. Running through the forest, Heero trailed after the American, using a path that was only present within Heero's mind. Coming to the edge of a clearing, Heero slowed to watch the scene taking place before him, drawing out his gun as he prepared to provide back up for Duo.

The wind had picked up; whipping through the forest, making it impossible for even Heero to hear what was going on. Thunder rumbled from the dark clouds overhead. Before him stood both Duo and another man that Heero didn't recognize but instinctively recoiled from at the evil flowing from the figure.

The man was grotesque, his skin pulled tight over his bones, pale and waxy looking; long fangs protruded from his mouth. What appeared to be dried blood covered the lower half of his face and his hands that ended in what looked like claws. The man spoke softly, in a parody of what once might have been a smooth, commanding voice. He appeared to be taunting the American pilot that stood before him calmly.

"You have no business being here, hunter. You cannot stop us; we are too strong for you. Join us and we can give you power beyond imagination."

"I have more power than I could ever need or want, unclean one. I only here to bring you justice. You want to justice." The American's voice dropped an octave and became a crooning sound, compelling the recipient to do his every bidding. Power rippled around the American's form as he spoke.

"Your tricks will not work on me, hunter. I am an ancient and far more powerful than a fledgling like you." A smile tugged at the corners of Duo's mouth. "We shall see."

Heero was unable to track their movements as the two moved quickly to engage the other. The fight ended in under a minute as the two figures froze as the American shoved his hand into the taller man's chest and pulled his blackened heart out. Swiftly moving away from the withering form of the man on the ground; Duo raised his hands above his head where streaks of lightening could be seen. Fire appeared from the sky to destroy the heart held within the American's hand and the body of the man.

Heero stood in shock at what had just happened before his eyes. It was nearly impossible for him to believe and yet Heero knew that if he was to shy away from the American now, he would lose the greatest opportunity of his life. Both instinct and something ingrained within him told Heero that if he accepted Duo and what he offered, it would change him and his life's course forever. As the amethyst eyes turned on his own sapphire ones, Heero began to walk towards his partner. Weariness was easily seen in the darkened depths, fear of being rejected for what he was. Heero merely watched the other as he struggled to come to terms with what he had just seen happen.

"We should get back to the safe house and get those burns treated." Heero turned back towards the way he came, but looked back over his shoulder. "You coming or not?"

Relief radiated from the American's body as he nodded and fell into step beside his partner.

"We have a lot to talk about."

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	6. Chapter Four

Standard disclaimers apply. See first two chapters for extend version of disclaimer.

/Thoughts/

**telepathy**

"Speech"

"_Other language"_

Scene change

Author's Note: I realize that I didn't mention the other pilots at the end of my last chapter. Assume that they were on a mission during the period that the last scene had taken place.

Chapter Four

Despite both Heero's and Duo's intention to speak of the events that took place, the opportunity never presented itself as they were immediately called away to separate missions. It was another six weeks before Heero and Duo were able to meet up again. And even then, they only saw each other for about a day. Heero was sent with Trowa to infiltrate an OZ facility in Brazil, while Duo joined Quatre and Wufei in Switzerland in an attempt to prove if the rumors of new mobile suits were true. When Duo joined with the other pilots, they had chosen not to speak of Duo's near execution other than to ask Duo if he was alright. It had become an unspoken agreement between Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei that they wouldn't mention Heero's disregard of orders in their reports to their controllers. However it was obvious in their barely concealed smiles, for Quatre at least, they were happy that he had. Raven also chose to remain silent, despite believing that Heero should have been court marshaled for his blatant disregard for orders.

The situation between Heero and Duo was a tense one. Duo had been amazingly silent since the incident with the vampire, choosing to merely watch the Japanese teen from the sidelines. Observing, re-cataloging what he knew about the mysterious young man that had been his partner for the last ten months. Neither Duo nor Heero had mentioned the vampire to the other pilots as they both believed that the others would think that they were telling a tall tale.

At times, Heero would catch Duo watching him, watching but not seeing, as if the brunette was looking at something beyond the mask that Heero presented. If only Heero knew how true his thoughts were.

Safe house. Forest range surrounding of Zurich, Switzerland. August A.C. 195

Quatre, Duo, and Wufei had been stationed in the forests outside of Zurich for nearly two weeks , supposedly searching for intel on a new type of mobile suit OZ was designing. After days of searching, they had nothing to show for their efforts.

"I hate the snow! It covers everything! And of course there HAS to be ice underneath all of that goddamned snow!" cried Duo as he slipped on a patch of ice in front of the door to the safe house. Quatre struggled valiantly not to laugh at his friend's predicament, and moved carefully through the drifts to help the fuming American make it into the cabin in one piece.

"Maxwell! Could you possibly be any louder! I don't think they heard you on the other side of the planet!" ranted the Chinese teen as he opened the door to help the two inside.

"Aww, come on, Wuffie. Why do ya have to be so mean all the time? Yeh know what ya should do? You should take that stick out of yur ass for one, and go get laid. Maybe by that Sally Po you met in Korea? Eep!" Duo scrambled to his feet from the sprawl he had adapted before the fire to flee from the enraged pilot now running after him with his katana screaming "Injustice!"

Laughing at their antics, Quatre calmly moved into the kitchen to put away the groceries that he and Duo had bought from a locate store. /A cup of tea would be nice right now. Ouch// All Quatre heard was a loud thump from above him, sounding like a body falling to the ground. /Wufei couldn't possibly have actually killed Duo, could he// Quatre reflected on this thought for a second./On second thought, yes, he could. / Rushing up the stairs, the Arabian pilot found Duo on the ground, rolling with laughter at the sight before him. The blond quickly placed a hand over his mouth to hide the smile forming on his lips. Wufei was covered in potpourri and dripping water all over the floor, a large glass bowl lay empty near the two pilots.

"Let's get you cleaned up Wufei, and into some dry clothes." Said Quatre barely able to disguise the laughter in his voice, directing the red-faced pilot down the hall to his room.

"I wouldn't have to change my clothes if Maxwell, hadn't thrown that bowl of water at me." Muttered the boy as he slunk down the hall.

"Now Wufei, you were chancing him and threatening to cut off his braid. You should know by now that Duo always finds a way to annoy you, you need to learn to ignore his jibes."

Duo was still laughing as the blond lead the fuming Wufei to his rooms. /God, Wufei, you will never change. Can't stand the fact that not everything is as prim and proper as you were taught. You were like that even when you were four years old. You only seemed to relax a bit when you were with me and your grandfather. Gods I miss him. You likely would too if you could remember him. It's been nearly twelve years since he died. Ah well, times change, so must we. Rest well child, someday I will tell you the truth. /

Heero and Trowa joined Quatre, Wufei, and Duo in Zurich a few days later, tired and bruised from their reconnaissance mission but none the worse for wear. They had completed their mission relatively easily, with the sole exception being the arrival of the annoying Relena Dorlian. (AN: I can't remember at which point Relena changes her last name so it's going to stay as Dorlian until further notice.)

All of the pilots enjoyed a quiet dinner, as quiet as could be expected with Duo in residence and no place is quiet while the energetic American was living there. After dinner, Heero had disappeared into his room to type up his mission report, before he had even allowed Quatre to check him over for injuries. Quatre had commandeered Trowa for a bit of music practice to help calm the tall pilot after the mission. Wufei had disappeared somewhere as well, saying he didn't want to be subjected to the antics of a very bored Duo.

This left Duo with little to do and no one to do it with. So, Duo decided to go and badger his partner into doing something with him, maybe a basketball game in the hanger or something.

Bouncing into the room with a mischievous grin on his face, Duo cried out, "Hiya, Hee-chan!" Cold, sapphire eyes fixed on the teen standing in the doorway.

"I'm busy."

"Ah, Hee-chan! Come on! Ya've done nothing but work since you got back! Ya need to relax and kick back a little." Heero turned away from his partner, trying to ignore the American's attempts to engage him in the conversation that seemed to have turned to something about penguins and how they had a plan to take over the world.

After about twenty minutes of listening to the brunette's rambling, Heero turned around and demanded to know what the American pilot wanted.

A smirk came over the self-proclaimed God of Death's features, "Why to talk of course, Heero. To make conversation. You do understand this concept don't you?" His voice had turned from the joking of minutes before to one that held thunder and darkness in it.

"Don't patronize me."

"But it's so easy, Hee-chan. You refuse to speak of anything other than the mission. Which brings us back to exactly where we were three weeks ago. Now we wouldn't want that to happen would we? We said we would discuss what happened that night and yet we never have. It's time for that conversation, Heero and nothing you say or do is going to stop us from having that conversation. You need to understand what took place and what I am, how else are we to work together if we don't get to know each other?"

Abruptly Heero rose from his chair in front of his laptop, "I'm going to work on Wing."

"Run if you want, Heero. You can't escape this." Amethyst eyes flashed with power as soft words were whispered, "You can't escape me."

Refusing to answer, the Japanese pilot stocked from the room. Husky laughter followed him down the hall, mocking the teen as he ran from the one person who had ever tried to be his friend and had gotten deep under his shields. Far deeper than anyone had before; far deeper than even his sister had gotten.

** You should talk to him, Heero. Maybe he can explain some things to us. Things we haven't been able to figure out ourselves. **His sister's voice washed over him as he climbed up the scaffolding beside Wing.

**He could also be one of the groups that nearly caught you the last time. We can't take the risk, Keara, and you know it. **

**He's different than them, brother. You can feel it just like I can. Let him in, brother, he may be the only one that could understand us, help us. Be his friend, get to know him. He could be the answer to what's happening and what will happen. Can we take the risk of not knowing? **

Heero sighed and gave a mental nod to his twin. **Alright, Keara. We'll play it your way. **

Her joy filtered through his mind, warming his heart, reminding him that he would always have her in his life. Her and the love that she felt for him.

Their conversation turned to other topics as the night progressed, neither realizing that that night would change the rest of their lives.

4 hours later….

Finally tracking down his wayward partner, Duo bound into the hanger with all the enthusiasm of a five year old on a sugar high.

"Hey! Hee-chan! You done up there yet? Quat wants to know how long you're going to be out here."

"Awhile. Go away."

"Okay. Just thought you might want to be warned that Q-ball will probably be coming out soon." Turning, Duo left the hanger exactly the way he came in. Bouncing.

Hearing the sound of something heavy hitting the ground in the hanger housing their gundams, Duo ran cautiously along the walls, eyes moving constantly seeking out intruders. When he had left not five minutes before, Heero had been working on his gundam on the opposite side of the hanger from Duo's Deathsythe. Duo suspected that the thump had been an intruder being neutralized by Heero, but why hadn't he come to inform the others of the spy? The fact that Heero had yet to appear worried Duo. His partner may believe that he was invincible but Duo knew damn well that even the "Perfect Soldier" could be overcome at times.

Rounding the corner to the entrance of the hanger, Duo peered into the open hanger, eyes finding no intruders except a body slumped half hidden in the shadows near Wing. Duo knew he would have to take the risk of Quatre sensing his magic, quickly erecting an Ebony shield around himself, Duo ran half crouched across the hanger floor towards the body.

As he drew closer, Duo realized with heart stopping clarity that the body was none other than Heero. Running flat out to reach his partner's side, Duo came to a sliding stop, carefully turning Heero over to search for injuries, Duo called on both his Carpathian healing abilities and the healing Craft that he knew to access his friend's condition.

With the exception of a small cut by his temple and some bruises from his fall, Heero had sustained few injuries. /Damn it, Heero. What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time. / thought Duo as he swiftly scanned the Japanese boy's body for any injuries he had missed. Drawing the teen into his arms, Duo ran for the safe house, calling for the other pilots as he raced into the small bungalow that the five were currently hiding in.

Laying Heero down on the bed (in the room that Duo shared with the Japanese pilot), Duo was joined by Quatre, with Trowa and Wufei on his heels.

"What happened?" demanded the stern Chinese pilot as he came to stand beside Duo.

"I don't know, all I heard was the sound of something heavy landing in the hanger. I went to check it out and found Heero unconscious on the ground by Wing. No one else was in the hanger and I didn't find any traces of anyone being there except me and him. Looked like he fell from the scaffolding. With anyone else, that would have been the main reason for injury, but with Heero. Who the hell knows." Stated Duo s he removed the teen's shoes, and directed Quatre to get bandages for the small wound on Heero's temple.

"Did you find any other injuries?" asked the silent Trowa from near the doorway.

"No, just some bruises and the cut on his temple."

Quatre reentered the room with concern plastered across his features. "What could cause Heero to fall from the ledge? That doesn't seem like Heero." Quatre's soft voice filled the room as he applied save to Heero's temple.

Duo just shrugged as he looked down at his unconscious partner lying on the bed. /What could possibly cause the Perfect Soldier to fall of the ledge in front of a Gundam? If something was wrong with the ledge, Heero would have jumped onto the gundam. A spy couldn't have gotten passed Heero's sensor system without him knowing it, Heero wouldn't tolerate incompetence in anyone, especially himself. What happened, Heero? It almost seems like it was a magical accident./ That thought triggered something in Duo's thoughts. Turning to Quatre, Duo asked if the blonde had sensed anything unusual about ten minutes before Duo had brought Heero back into the house.

The Arabian pilot looked pensive for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I can't remember sensing anything. No surprise, no pain, nothing. It's like I'm not connected to my senses at all right now. Which is very strange as Heero always seems to light up like a beacon when he's feeling something. It's like he turned into a blank spot on radar. Can't sense him, but know there's something there. He still feels like that to me."

Duo nodded and thanked the blond for his help. Questions swirled throughout Duo's mind, what could have happened?

"I'll watch him for the night. You guys get some rest." Said Duo, realizing that it was well after midnight. The others gave nods of agreement and quietly left the room, leaving Duo and Heero alone.

Brushing chocolate coloured locks away from his partners' closed eyes, Duo sat at Heero's bedside until nearly dawn, contemplating what could have cause the Perfect Soldier to have such an accident.

With the dawn, Heero began to stir, small movement that caught Duo's attention, forcing him from his thoughts. "Heero?"

The Japanese pilot seemed to force his eyes open, steel blue eyes sweeping the room, taking in everything about his surroundings before focusing on the American before him. "Duo? What happened?"

Duo gave a mischievous grin before answering, "Seems you had a bit of an accident there buddy. Fell off the ledge did you?"

"Ledge? But I wasn't on the ledge. I was in an alley, two men were talking about Oz…."

"What do you mean you were in an alley? Buddy, I found you on the ground beside Wing unconscious." Heero'eyes grew distant as he tried to recall the events of the night before.

"There was something calling to me, like something was pulling at the back of my mind, something I had to see, something that I couldn't control." Heero's words were soft, contemplative, unsure. Duo looked closely at the teen laying before him on the bed. /It almost sounds like he had a vision, a trigger vision. Like he was a seer coming into his powers. He's old enough for it. But why haven't I been able to sense anything from him before now? Unless…..he could be a high seer, but then why is he an only child? Unless he was never told that he had a sibling. High seers are always connected to their anchor though, ever since they were born. Wait, the girl. She's always in his mind. Is it possible that she's his sister? That would explain why they always seem to be connected. She could be his anchor./

"Heero, this is going to sound very strange but I want you to bare with me and answer the question no matter how strange it may seem. Do you get these spells often? Has the girl that you speak to in your head ever had one?"

Heero shook his head. "No, never. Why are you asking this? I'm not insane."

"I'm not saying you are, it's just that I might know what's happening to you but I need you to answer these questions to be sure."

Heero looked away, seemingly refusing to answer. Duo sighed, and began to get up off the bed. A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist holding him in place in a half sitting half standing position.

"Wait………there have been times in my childhood when I would retreat into my mind to get away from the world. To find a silence, a place to balance myself. Sometimes there seemed to be another there. Female, about the same age as me. She wouldn't speak to me, just give me….images of things I had never seen before or done. Almost like she was sharing memories with me. Other times we would just talk, about anything."

"How long has she been there?"

"Always, ever since I was aware of it."

Duo nodded, Heero's words had confirmed his suspicions about what the spell Heero had could have been.

"I'm not definite on this yet, and won't be until another of these episodes happens but my suspicions are that you are a high seer."

Heero turned his steel hard eyes on the brunette pilot. Eyes searching, looking for confirmation that Duo's words were nothing but a joke, another prank for kicks. Though why he bothered to doubt the American's words, he was unsure. After all, Heero had been with Duo when they had been attacked by the vampire, had seen the supernatural with him. Why would this be any different if vampires existed?

Duo looked calmly back at the young man in front of him, allowing the scrutiny and suspicion. "You cannot share this with the others, especially with Quatre or Raven, it is too dangerous."

"And it is not too dangerous for you to know?' demanded Heero, his hand moving towards the place that he kept his gun. Using a small amount of Craft, Duo removed the gun from its hiding place and called it to his hand. Heero's eyes widened slightly as he watched his gun appear in his partner's hand. "You will need a teacher to help you control these episodes, and who better than one who is like you?"

For the second time, Duo dropped the masks of joker before his partner and allowed his real self to show through, that of a man full of confidence in his abilities, power seemingly around him like a second skin.

**He can help us, Heero. Trust him. ** whispered Keara.

Heero weighed the pros and cons quickly in his head before accepting Duo's hand and his offer to help teach Heero to control his spells.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! And please continue to review as it helps me to write more!


	7. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: standard, don't own, don't sue. The only characters that I own are Raven and Ivy Malachai, Heero's siblings (Keara and others to come), Paul (?), and the townspeople of Allora, ON (fictional). All other characters and ideas belong to the following: J.K. Rowling, Christine Feehan, Anne Bishop, Frank Herbert, the owners of Gundam Wing (whose name I can't remember).

Author's Note: I realize that it has been over a year from my last update, but this will generally be the norm. Due to school, work, and lack of motivation from no reviews, I find little reason to speed up my updates. Reviews do in fact help an author write, we need to hear what people think so that we improve our stories and get new ideas. I try and write reviews for most stories that I read, I would appreciate it if others would do the same as I know that my story is being read (this can be seen through the hit counter). PLEASE REVIEW THE STORY, IT DOES IN FACT HELP AUTHORS CONTINUE WRITING!

I would also like to make a brief shout out to a writer called Dark Dragon-Chick, this author is amazing (I highly recommend reading A Welcome Dark Dream) and we have encouraged each other to continue our stories by consistently reviewing each chapter on what we liked and found interesting about the stories we have written. It would be greatly appreciated if the rest of you would do the same.

I would also like to thank those who DID review:

Tati1: Thank you, I couldn't remember whose controller was whose.

SolitaryPoison: I'm glad you like it so far; hope you like this one as well.

DarkAmazOn: I'm still debating on the Dumbledore issue but definitely a bitchy Relena to be sure!

Mooneyoukai: I finally overcame my writer's block! Thank you for the vote on Relena, and I'm definitely considering doing an innocent/blinded Dumbledore.

Twisted Truth: Thanks for the review! Evil Relena and Evil/Blinded Dumbledore all the way!

Jewelle2: Sorry I haven't updated but writer's block is a pain in the ass. Hopefully you won't be confused anymore.

BabyShaylee: Girl, thank you so much for your support I couldn't do it without you.

//_bleh//_ Duo's thoughts

_Bleh_ Heero's thoughts

**Bleh** telepathy

**Chapter Five:**

**August A.C. 195**

Duo looked over at the Japanese pilot seated on the floor, watched the concentration on the teen's face as he deftly wove pieces of wire and cable threw a large piece of cedar they'd found in the woods earlier. A small smile crossed the American's features as he remembered the past few weeks.

_FLASHBACK_

Mere days after Heero had accepted Duo's offer to train him they were arguing over why they couldn't begin immediately as Duo steadfastly refused to teach Heero in close proximity to their friends as there was a possibly that Quatre or Raven would sense them, though why this was a problem Heero had yet to understand.

Luckily Heero and Duo had been sent to a new safe house in northern Germany to keep a running surveillance on a couple of arms dealers that were suspected of selling new weapons to Oz capable of destroying gundanium. Thankfully it appeared that the rumors were proving to be false. During that time Duo had agreed to start Heero's magical training.

They'd started small, moving objects and/or suspending them in the air, this Heero seemed to learn quickly though it took him longer to grasp the concept of passing one object through another.

_END FLASHBACK_

Duo gave a mental snort at that first lesson. It had taken him sticking his arm through his gundam before Heero finally got the idea. //_ Also took some heated arguments to convince him it was possible. Mind you it finally got through to him that I do have a brain. //_

Throughout Heero's training Duo made sure that the Japanese pilot knew of ways to use his new abilities in battle without being detected by others like themselves. _//Though I don't think Heero liked it very much when I used Wing to perform an aerial ballet in my first attempt to get him to realize I wasn't talking bull.//_

Amethyst eyes turned to watch the wild-haired brunette as he wove and intricate pattern into the wood. _//He looks so serious as he does that. And yet he's taking to the lessons like a fish to water.//_ Duo gave another smile and turned back to the book of Russian poetry he'd been reading. The last few weeks had allowed Dup to open up a bit to Heero and let more of his true self through; so far his partner had reacted amicably to it. Well, as much as Heero Yuy, Perfect Soldier, could.

The computer on the room's single table beeped, breaking the comfortable silence. Moving quickly to it, the two pilots scanned the details of their latest mission, a rescue one surprisingly. They were to retrieve the daughter of a prominent colony activist/engineer, two others had been kidnapped along with her but the daughter was their main objective.

Grabbing their belongings, they raced to their gundams.

"I'll send you the coordinates once we're airborne." Stated Heero as he climbed into the 17 meter tall gundam.

Shouting an affirmative, Duo began the launch sequence for Deathsythe. As he punched in the commands, Duo could feel the spiking flames beneath his skin, could see them moving.

//_No! Not now! I can't afford to loose it now.//_ He cursed mentally, forcing the Phoenix part of his heritage back. Praying that he could hold out until the mission was over; Duo forced himself to focus on the readouts he was receiving from Wing.

/_/Darkness be merciful, let me make it through this.// _

"Damn it! Where the fuck did _these_ guys come from!" yelled Duo as he fired more shots into the corridor teeming with OZ soldiers. The mission had gone to hell in a hand basket far faster than either of them could have predicted.

"We have to find the girl. You got any tricks up your sleeve?" asked Heero, taking out four soldiers in quick succession.

Digging into one of his many pockets, Duo grinned wickedly and threw the homemade bomb into the corridor, pulling Heero back as he threw it. The explosion rattled the walls and cleared the hallway for the two pilots.

Moving cautiously through the halls, they quickly located the cell holding the kidnapped girl. Sneaking up on the two guards and neutralizing them in seconds, Heero took point as his partner knelt to pick the lock.

"Bloody waste. Lock's rusted. Don't these people know that a proper lock makes it easier for picking? Fuck it." Snarled the long-haired brunette, he stepped back, fingers weaving intricate patterns and forced the lock to open.

Peering into the cell, Duo could make out vague outlines of three people.

"We're not going to hurt you. We're here to take you home." Duo spoke softly, gently persuading.

A slim feminine hand reached out tentatively and grasped Duo's outstretched hand.

"Hurry up, soldiers coming." Heero said sharply.

The three figures moved towards the two pilots, two teenage girls and a teenage boy, all roughly the same age as Duo and Heero.

The oldest, a young Asian woman had long, wild dark hair and bright blue eyes. Duo was struck by how much the girl resembled his partner, she could have been his twin.

"Keara?" the shocked voice came from behind Duo, his peripheral vision showed his partner staring at the young woman.

"Heero?" the girl's eyse lit up when they came to rest on the Japanese pilot.

"Now is not the time, kids, time to go." Heero snapped back into soldier mode, scanning the hallway.

"We have to move quickly, company's coming." Stated Duo.

"They won't fit in the gundams."

"So we'll head for the hills, loose them in the caves." The brunette nodded, taking point with the three teens behind and Duo following in the rear.

The group raced stealthily through the compound, barely avoiding some of the OZ soldiers bent on discovering them but Heero and Duo managed to get the three civilians out into the base garage without any major confrontations.

Duo jumped into the driver's seat of the large personnel truck while Heero got the teenagers into the back and jumping in to guard their rear as they took off. The soldiers paid them no attention with the pandemonium happening and the other vehicles setting out at the same time.

The group followed other OZ vehicles for a time, staying to the back of the line of supply trucks before quietly falling back and moving off towards their rendezvous point as they got farther and farther from the base.

Day turned into night as Duo drove, they were in a relatively uninhabited area of northern Russia so there was little interaction with the locals, and as they had stopped to remove all monikers of Oz from the vehicle not long after separating from the supply pack, there would be a slim chance of being associated with the group.

The brunette looked into the rearview mirror at one point not long after the sun had set, a smile curving his features. Heero was sitting against one of the walls of the truck with the girl he had called "Keara" held snuggly against his side, the other girl beside her and the boy pressed tightly against Heero's other side. All of them were sound asleep, the signs of captivity still blatant on their features but peace as well.

Feeling eyes on him, the Japanese pilot looked up from his observation of the teens sleeping against him to look at his partner. Duo could tell, being an avid Heero-watcher in his spare and not-so-spare time, that his young friend felt at peace with the three leaning against him, that there was a connection between Heero and the teens that Duo could understand and yet not.

The American turned back to the road, only time would tell what would become of all of them. Wars changed people in a way that nothing else in the universe could, it changed the fate of people and the interactions they had with the rest of the population of their worlds, they met people they never would have met under any other circumstances. Perhaps this meeting would be one such event in the course of Duo and Heero's roles in the war. Perhaps these three youths would give a sense of worth to Heero's life as he obviously was feeling a strong connection to them. Duo smirked, only time would tell.

Duo drove until dawn through the snow drifts of Russia, memories swirling of times passed spent in this frozen land before the war. As the sky began to turn pink with the promise of day, the Sweeper ships came into view. The ancient Carpathian had contacted Howard not long after rescuing their objective, the head Sweeper had promised transport for the pilots and the civilians that they had rescued as well as the gundams to any place of their choice as it was far easier for the Sweepers to transport large shipments undetected than the pilots themselves.

Pulling into the makeshift camp the Sweepers had erected, shouts of welcome could be heard all around them. Howard came walking out of the main tent to meet the pilots.

"'Bout time you got here, kid! We were expecting you hours ago!" Seeing the Japanese pilot climb out of the back of the truck, the big man shouted a greeting to him as well, "Hey! Soldier Boy! Long time no see! You still in one piece?"

Heero gave a small lift of the corner of his mouth, a great feat for the otherwise stoic pilot, "No injuries this time, Howard. Few more to transport though."

The loudly coloured man turned to the long-haired brunette in question.

"There were two other teens there along with the daughter; we had to get them out as well. They seem to be rather taken with Heero." Howard's eyebrows rose at the American's words.

"You're shittin' me right?"

"No, take a look for yourself" said Duo as he pointed to the back of the truck where Heero was being uncharacteristically gentle and attentive to the three teens that they had rescued. They seemed to have attached themselves to the Japanese pilot with no intention of letting go anytime soon and surprisingly enough, Heero didn't appear to mind at all.

Seeing the teens start to shiver, Duo turned to another of the Sweepers nearby and asked if she could find some warmer clothing for them as they were all dressed in rather thin clothing.

A flurry of activity took place as the three civilians were escorted into the temporary buildings to warm up, though they refused to leave Heero's or Duo's side for the time being.

Later that evening when most of the camp was sleeping, Duo turned to his partner and asked the question that had been floating through his mind for nearly twenty-four hours.

"You know them don't you? At least the older girl, Cassandra."

Heero rolled onto his side to face the brunette. He stayed silent for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not to reveal the connection between himself and the girl to his partner.

"Yes. You know that I've always been able to communicate with another like myself, one that has been merged with me since birth. Cassandra or Keara as I have always known her is that person. Bronwyn, I am unsure of, I am drawn to her but not the same way that Keara does."

The Carpathian nodded, "Bronwyn has the psychic signature of a Blood Queen, of Witch" His thoughts turned inwards for a time before speaking again. "I think that she is the Queen that I was born to serve, the one that I have been looking for." Swirling amethyst eyes turned to meet the almond-shaped ones of his partner; the ancient could see the understanding in the sapphire depths, the recognition.

"Hai, I sense the same thing. "

"And the boy?" asked Duo, shifting on his bed to better see the emotions flitting across his friend's face.

Heero was silent, contemplating what he felt when he had first seen the boy, Aidan, that they had rescued. The connection between them was strange, it was like Heero had been waiting to meet Aidan all of his life, searching for him unconsciously though he was unsure of the reason for it. The pilot felt a very strong bond with the boy, he wanted to protect and care for him, be there for him in all things.

"There is a bond there. It confuses me. Like I've always been searching for him and now that I've found him, a part of me is finally whole and in balance."

"Sounds like an anchoring bond. It is possible that Aidan may be one of your anchors."

Heero turned Duo's statement over in his mind. "Yes, he is an anchor, but a stronger one than Keara, like he is a primary anchor but not at the same time."

"Strange." Stated the ancient. Comfortable silence reigned through the room, and before long, Duo could hear the soft, even breathing of his chocolate-haired partner. A soft look came over his features before Duo also settled down to sleep, his dreams filled with images of his partner in sunlight.

Early the next morning the pilots and civilians headed out for Allora, Ontario (AN: Canada for those who don't know) aboard one of the smaller Sweeper ships. During the ten hour flight, Duo and Heero got to know the three teens that they had rescued in Russia.

Cassandra, or Keara as Heero was constantly calling her, turned out to be the daughter of Raven's twin sister, Ivy. That little fact had thrown Heero for a loop with the prospect of having an actual family, and later, in the privacy of their own room as Heero didn't wish to alarm the teens, he told Duo that Ivy had also been his main architect while he was living with Doctor J and also his head surgeon. To say that Duo hit the roof was an understatement.

Cassandra was a very smart young woman who especially loved to dance, earning brownie points with Duo instantly. She was also the pseudo- mother of the children of the other families that all lived with her, her father, and her grandparents in Allora. All of the adults in the family had been close friends that had gone through traumatic pasts, they had chosen to live together and raise their families under one roof as it was too difficult to live under separate rooves due to the side effects of their pasts.

Bronwyn was a year younger than both Cassandra and Heero and seemed to be a rather eccentric young lady, which Duo only smiled at and said that all great Queens tended to be on the weird side of things. Though she wasn't related to Cassandra, it was obvious that the teens felt a strong sibling bond between them. Bronwyn was a singer and loved to play pranks on people but she also had a very strong protective streak that extended to beyond the rather large family she had been raised in.

Aidan was the same age as Bronwyn though again not related and appeared to be a quiet young man who tended to be classified as a loner by society though he warmed up to Heero, and Duo to some extent, very quickly. He was very smart but had little in the way of self worth or confidence but Heero had already made it his personal mission to draw the young man out into the world and help him to learn how to live alongside him. The boy was a talented artist and only seemed to have any presence when he was in Heero's company; otherwise he seemed to just fade into the background.

After a long but enjoyable ten hours getting to know the teens, who Duo and Heero had every intention of keep in contact with, the Sweeper ship landed on the outskirts of the small town of Allora.

The two pilots escorted the youths to the edge of their families' property, after a few good byes and promises to keep in contact, which Duo just smirked at when he commented that it might be impossible for Heero not to keep in contact with Cassandra, the pilots watched as the teenagers raced to reunite with their families.

Duo and Heero watched the reunion for a time before heading back to the ship to retrieve their gundams and move on to their next safe house in Jasper Park, Alberta.

**Jasper Park, Alberta, Canada**

Only three days had passed since they had reunited Cassandra, Bronwyn, and Aidan with their families when it happened. The fight wasn't even over anything major, a mere comment made by Heero that Duo seemed to have been PMSing that sparked the flames to fly.

"Where is it?! I told you not to touch it, Heero!" yelled the American pilot as he searched frantically for his journal which had gone missing, the nearness of his burning day making his temper extremely short.

"I didn't touch the thing, baka. You just forgot where you put it. Why would I touch it anyway?" Heero replied calmly, never ceasing his typing.

For some reason, which the only explanation was the shortened temper brought on by the repression of his previous burning day, the statement made the brunette pilot extremely angry. He could feel the fire inside of him building, seeking a way to get out from underneath his skin.

The fireplace not four feet away of the brunette suddenly lit. Neither pilot had been anywhere near it when it happened as it startled them badly.

The curtains on the other side of the room caught on fire as well. The long-haired pilot watched his partner try to put the curtains out and knew that he was loosing control of the Phoenix within him.

"Duo! Your hands!" cried Heero from beside the window, looking down the American saw that his hands were covered in blue flames.

He knew that if he couldn't get Heero out of the safe house soon, the Japanese pilot would be barbequed.

Amethyst eyes met sapphire; the only word to cross his lips was "Run". Heero grabbed their bags and ran for the door.

**Run Heero; run as far and as fast as you can **the American told his partner telepathically as he erected a shield around the house in an attempt to contain the flames that would soon burst forth. As soon as the brunette sensed that his partner was far enough away he stopped fighting the Phoenix and allowed the flames to consume him and everything they touched.

He screamed, not in pain but in defiance of his heritage, as the house collapsed around him in a fiery inferno. Then he knew only darkness.

From a mile away Heero watched the safe house burn with his partner inside. Anguish twisted painfully inside him but he trusted his partner and mentor that the brunette would survive the blaze intact and unharmed.

The Japanese pilot was unsure of why he waited until the house had stopped burning to return to the site, the shield had collapsed as the flames died out, a ring of burnt earth surrounded the structure but hadn't moved beyond it.

Moving cautiously, the wild-haired pilot entered the area that had been the bedroom, the last place he had seen his partner.

There in the center of the room, unconscious but completely untouched by the fire, was the brunette pilot. His clothes were smudged with soot and ash, but his hair and skin were unblemished. _He has beautiful skin_ Heero thought as he stared at his friend.

Shaking the thoughts away he bent and picked up his unconscious friend and began to walk away from the site of the burned house. They would need to be a safe distance from it before OZ and the locals arrived.

Heero looked down at the pale face of his best friend and knew that there was much in store for them in the future, his only wonder was if they would be able to survive it as unharmed as Duo had this time.

**October A.C. 195 Nashville, Tennessee, United States**

It had been two months since the incident in Alberta and the discovery of Heero's magical abilities.

Over those two months, Heero had been exposed to a world that he had never believed could have existed, a world of magic and political intrigue between the races of magical races. He also came to know the real side of Duo Maxwell, who, in reality, turned out to be named Valkan Secundus, an ancient born of four races (the Carpathians, the Blood, the Tuatha De Danaan, and the Elves), and was only impersonating Duo Maxwell who had died in the Maxwell Massacre.

Heero had learned to control most of his powers but his visions had yet to be under any semblance of control. Though Duo's-Valkan's teachings were helping, Heero was forced to rely mostly on his mentor's (AN: this is Valkan) powers to shield his mind from the majority of the psychic energies constantly bombarding his mind. Not that Heero really minded this fact, but he would only admit that to himself under many mental privacy shields. Consequently, this constant mental merging had formed a bond between the two pilots, allowing them to grow closer and learn more about each other's pasts.

Duo (AN: I will be calling him Duo until at least the next chapter where it will switch to Valkan permanently) bound into their shared bedroom in the safe house they had been staying in for the last week.

Amethyst eyes landed on the Japanese teen typing away at his laptop. A mischievous grin came over the full lips; wheels began to turn in the strategist mind, planning the perfect prank to get his stoic friend away from that goddamned computer for a few hours. It's a about time the boy had some fun in his life.

Just as Duo began to sneak up behind his roommate, employing all of his inherited and learned stealth tactics, a voice stopped him, making him freeze in place.

"Don't even think about it." //_Damn. How does he do that?! I definitely never taught him that// _scowled Duo.

**I know you, baka. It's not that hard** Surprise washed through him at the sound of Heero's mental voice. Pride as well, at the accomplishments of his student learning to use his mental powers so quickly.

"You been holding out on me, buddy? I don't remember teaching you to do that."

Heero seemed to turn defensive and retreat from the camaraderie.

"No one taught me. I just know how to do it. Other skills are the same way; I just know how to do them before anyone teaches me."

"Heero, buddy, look at me. We're going to try something." The Japanese pilot turned around in his seat, laser like eyes watching his mentor.

"I need to look at your psychic signature. I believe I may know the reason why you just seem to know things. Will you let me in?" Heero nodded allowing Duo access to the physical characteristics of his mind.

Amethyst began to swirl as they analyzed Heero's psychic fingerprint, looking for specific elements- his primary and secondary magical elements, his magical and physical heritage, and so on.

A gasp was wrenched from the ancient's throat as they both came back to themselves.

"Preborn. You're preborn." Whispered Duo in awe as he stared at his partner.

"Preborn?"

"It means that you came aware while you were still in the womb. Born with all of the knowledge that your direct ancestors possessed. You remember everything your ancestors ever knew, everything from the time of your conception to the time of your 1st ancestor. " Duo's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "But how can that be? Preborns are always born in pairs….."

**Keara? Are you listening to this?**

**Yes, it fits what information I have. Let him in, Heero. I think that he will be our strongest supporter if we let him. **

Heero refocused to Duo smirking at him.

"The girl say anything interesting?"

Heero glared at his partner, "We were agreeing that the definition you gave for 'preborns' seemed to fit us too well. And her name is Keara."

"It explains a great many things, especially your intimate knowledge of the Blood and some of the jumps that you have made in your training. You already know most of the things that I have taught you, the training is more of a way to bring the memories forward and allow you to utilize the knowledge that is already there. However, being preborn will have consequences that will be far more severe when you come of age and receive the bulk of your powers. You will require anchors definitely, though I suppose Keara already acts as one, as does Aidan. We will see when the time comes I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not an expert on preborn development but I do have considerable knowledge when it comes to seers. I've raised four children that were seers. However-"

"Wait a minute._ Raised_ four children?! You're only 15! How can you have raised four children!" demanded Heero, he could feel Keara's growing interest in the back of his mind.

The American pilot quietly regarded the teenager sitting in front of him. With a quiet confidence he replied, "Heero, you must learn very quickly that in our world, appearances are deceiving 99 of the time. While my appearance- which isn't my true body but a glamour- may appear to be that of a fifteen year old boy, in reality I appear much more like a thirty year old man from somewhere in Eastern Europe. And even then my appearance doesn't show my age, if it did I'd been nothing but a stain buried deep in the stratigraphy. I'm many thousands of years old and I have raised four hundred and sixty seven children in my lifetime. Now may I continue with my explanation?"

Numbly Heero nodded. _Thousands of years old! Four hundred and sixty seven kids! Kami, he must this think that this whole war and every one of us pilots as nothing more than insolent children playing at war!_

**On the contrary, Heero, I see four young men forced to grow up far too quickly because their home countries were too cowardly to go to war themselves. I see boys that should be in high school worrying about homework and asking a girl out to the dance, not going on suicide missions that I would never send even the most experienced of soldiers on. No, Heero, I've never seen you, Quatre, Trowa or Wufei as children, but there are times when I truly wish that I could. **

With those soul felt words, Duo continued his explanation of what Heero should expect to happen when he came into his inheritance in 7 months (AN: I'm making Heero's birthday to be the 1st of May).

**Early December A.C. 195**

For weeks Heero had been feeling like something big was coming, something drastic was going to happen. The tension in the air and the recent uneasiness that Raven had been displaying only served to heighten his suspicions.

Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Raven had moved into their new safe house in Brisbane, Australia- new if you could call the shack on the outskirts of town a safe house- mere hours before Raven's laptop had beeped with a new mission from their controllers.

The mission was to infiltrate a party given by a group called "Blood's Right" and kidnap a prominent OZ official, the controllers believed that the man held key information in on the new mobile suit army OZ was amassing in the Pacific.

Heero immediately got onto his computer to obtain background information on the group and schematics for the building the party was to be held in.

The mission parameters stated that the group was to be expecting a new male entertainer in three days, the doctors had decided that Quatre would be the pilot best for the mission as the group liked "innocent" looking men as their entertainers.

As Duo read over Heero's shoulder, he became more and more angry at the doctors for forcing him and Quatre into this position.

From the files that Heero had collected, it appeared that the women of "Blood's Right" were Blood witches- a group that had come from the same region of Kaeleer (Duo's home realm/planet) as Duo himself. It appeared that they were the descendents of the original group of witches that had enslaved Duo millennia ago (1), and by the looks of it, they were continuing in their grandmothers' steps.

_//I'll be damned before I let anyone, especially Quatre, go anywhere near that group…Well maybe Raven, she'd probably end up as Queen there// _thought Duo, mentally shuddering as memories of such past parties surfaced.

Heero could feel the tension in his partner as Duo leaned on his shoulder, continuing to read the data compiled. _He must have some history with this group; I'll have to ask him._

**Duo. You're aggravated. What's going on?**

Heero could feel his partner mentally struggle to regain balance. **Just the past coming back to haunt me, it's nothing. Don't worry about it.**

**Duo.**

The dark brunette felt the American teen sigh. **Can't keep anything from you can I? This group is descendents of the original "Blood's Right" group. They're into S&M games, focused heavily on the pain of the males that they use. The men that go into these parties never come out whole…..if they come out at all.**

**You were one of these men.**

**Yes, from the time I was five until Raven got me out twenty thousand years ago. This ends now. I won't watch good men destroyed by these things.**

"What have you found Heero?" asked the blond as he went over the mission details.

" 'Blood's Right' is a group that deals in dominant/submissive fantasies for female and male clients, the women are the dominants while the male "entertainers" that work at the parties and the male clients are the submissive. The women there like to abuse the men, their slogan seems to be that men are for sex and the women rule. Most of the men that walk into these parties rarely come out sane after what happens inside." Said Duo bitterly as he stared out the window, trying to use the sandy rocks of the beach as a way to center himself.

"Duo?" Quatre looked at the braided teen but the window, worry apparent on his face. "Are you okay?"

Giving the blond a half smile, the American turned back to the window.

"Duo…realistically you're the best person to go on this mission; you know the culture, the politics. We couldn't train Quatre in only three days! It's impossible!" cried Raven.

"No". Cold amethyst eyes turned on the fire-haired woman. Quatre and Heero froze, Shinigami had come out to play and Raven was only stoking the fires. "I'm not doing it Raven. I won't to go back there; back to a life of wondering where the next beating was going to come from; which damn bitch I'm going to be forced to service; back to being drugged and tied to a bed so the woman could use my body as she saw fit. I'd rather die then go back there."

_Dear Allah, how could someone do that to another human being? How did Duo survive?_Thought Quatre as he sat in horrified silence.

Raven, however, wasn't deterred by his refusal.

As Duo reached the doorway to enter the kitchen, she called out to him, knowing her words would secure his compliance.

"They're using safframate (2)."

The brunette froze in the doorway, tension running through his body; ice began to cover the windows despite the warm climate (3).

"If I do this our contract is void." Cold eyes turned on their CO. "I want you gone by morning. Don't even think about staying in Sol system. You have 24 hours to be gone from the system, Lady. Get out." Shinigami's voice sent shills down the spines of all those in the room. The air was barely breathable from the heat when he left, though Quatre and Heero took little notice of it. They merely watched their fuming commander from outside the line of fire.

The next seventy-two hours were definitely going to be interesting.

And horrifying.

When Heero returned to the room that he shared with Duo, the sight that awaited him was beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

Duo had cut his hair. The sheared off ends barely brushed the back of his neck.

"Duo….your hair…..why?" he stammered out, shocked beyond belief that the American had cut off his yard long hair.

The American's darkened eyes turned to meet those of his partner.

"I won't tarnish Duo's memory by bearing his key feature on this mission."

Heero nodded, accepting the reasoning behind the move but disappointed at the loss of his partner's beautiful hair. It was the main thing that Wing's pilot had associated with his loud friend.

"Heero." Duo said softly, half turning towards the stone-faced pilot. "Need you to make sure that Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei aren't here when I get back. I don't want them to see me on safframate. Will you promise me? They won't be here?"

Heero nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you."

Nothing could have prepared Heero for the horror that was safframate. Nothing could have prepared him for what it would turn his partner into, what he would do while on the drug. That night would become one of many nightmares that would haunt both Heero and Duo for the rest of their lives.

Please note that in the summary it says that Duo is 50 000 years old.

Safframate is an aphrodisiac that when two or three seeds is used, it allows a male or female extended stamina. When crushed and used by the spoon full, which is what is being used here and will be explained later, it causes the body to go into over drive. The body is so sensitized that pleasure becomes pain, and orgasm is impossible. The effects of safframate will last as much as three days. All information about safframate and the Blood is found in the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop.

When Blood males (like Duo) get angry, they'll go into 1 of 2 types of anger:

Hot anger: this is the emotional anger of the body.

Cold anger: this is the anger of the Jewels, the Craft, they wield and it usually means that someone is going to either get seriously hurt or die. Signs of this kind of anger commonly are: Ice forming upon surfaces or a room growing very cold despite the surrounding climate.


	8. Chapter Six

Standard Disclaimer: don't own, don't sue. Full disclaimer in 1st and 2nd chapters.

**Chapter Six:**

Duo shuddered as he attempted to remember what had happened, what he had done while under the influence of the drug, safframate. Vague shadows and words floated to the surface.

He remembered the bloodlust, the violence that came with the pain of oversensitivity. His muscles and bones told him that much.

What had he done?

Where was Heero? Was he hurt?

His body went cold. Had he hurt Heero?

Horrified at the thought, Duo struggled to his feet, nearly falling to the forest floor many times before he was able to stay upright. The world spun as he tried to gain his bearings.

The forest around him was completely and utterly decimated. Trees were charred. The ground was barely more than burnt soil. There seemed to be no sign of human life anywhere he looked.

There wasn't a body nearby either. Hope, a slim possibility that Heero might still be alive, filled the exhausted ancient.

A branch snapped behind him.

Whirling around, Duo's heart nearly stopped from relief at the sight before him.

Heero.

Whole.

Safe.

Alive.

"Duo?"

Unable to speak, tears blinding him, Duo nodded. Suddenly he began to fall, his legs unable to hold his weight.

Strong arms caught him, eased him gently to the ground.

Duo clutched at Heero's arms, desperate for a touchstone to reassure himself that it wasn't a dream. That they were both alive and well.

How long had it been? Where were they?

(AN: I can't get rid of this line for some reason, THIS IS NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

"W-W-Where?" he croaked through a dry throat. Heero pressed a canteen to his lips. Drinking a small amount of the cool water, Duo tried again. "Where are we?"

"The foot hills around Tambourine Mountain (AN: this is a real place, it's in Queensland, Australia. Very beautiful). We've been traveling for three days. You crashed last night."

Three days?

He'd been under for three days?

"Hai, three days." Replied Heero, answering the question that Duo had unknowingly asked out loud.

Looking into the sapphire spheres of his partner, Duo braced himself for the answers he would receive. "What did I do?"

Silently regarding the ancient, Heero eventually nodded and began to tell his partner what he had done while on safframate.

The violence.

The blood.

The destruction.

Everything.

Heero held nothing back, knowing that the ancient deserved and needed to know exactly what had went on over the last seventy two hours.

It was full dark long before Heero finished his tale.

Duo stared into the fire, occasionally sipping the soup that Heero had forced into his hands over an hour ago.

"You are not responsible for what you did, Duo. It wasn't you, it was the drug."

(AN: Again, I have no control over these lines. NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

Duo's eyes flickered to his partner before returning to the fire. "Was it? Or was it my dark side? I have done things that would curdle blood if remembered, things I regret every day of my life. How is this any different?" Again his eyes came up to meet Heero's.

He found no pity or fear there, only acceptance; and that scared him most of all.

"You can only move on from here, Duo. Do what you can to repent for the things that you have done in darkness, but live your life. That is all you can do." He jerked his head at the blankets lying near by. "Sleep, you will need it if we are to get off this mountain."

It was a long time before Duo succumbed to Morpheus that night.

(THIS** IS** A SCENE CHANGE!!!!)

Heero woke to the sound of strangled cries and the rustling of leaves overhead. Coming instantly awake, he realized that it wasn't an enemy that was making the noises, it was Duo. He was caught in the throes of a nightmare.

They all had them, especially after a particularly violent and bloody mission, the sounds of battle echoed into their dreams. It was rare for any of them to sleep a full night without waking at least once.

"No!...Heero!...Run!...HEERO!"

Realizing that Duo wasn't going to wake up on his own, the Japanese pilot went swiftly to his partner's side, careful not to touch him and set off the hair-trigger reflexes that they all had.

"Duo. DUO!"

The American jack-knifed upright as he woke, eyes wild and lungs gasping for air as he looked frantically around. They came to rest on the pilot beside him, tears streaked the heart-shaped face.

"Heero?" He barely had enough time to brace himself before Duo threw himself into his partner's arms. "Oh, God. I watched you die. I couldn't get to you fast enough. I couldn't stop him. He killed you. He killed you."

Instinct took over as Duo began to tremble; wrapping his arms around the shaking teen, Heero began to rock gently back and forth while mumbling quietly to the brunette in his native tongue.

It was sometime before the tremors began to recede. As the American leaned back from the embrace, Heero carefully wiped the tears from the brunette's face, disturbed at how much the tears rattled him.

Catching the look in the darkened sapphire eyes of his stoic partner, Duo gave a watery grin, "I'll be okay."

Heero nodded and began to pull away to return to his own blankets. Duo's grip tightened on the taller teen's arms.

"Wait, I…..please….stay with me?" he whispered, eyes pleading with Heero to understand his need for reassurance.

"Hai" Heero replied after a brief silence.

It took some maneuvering to untangle the blankets from around Duo's legs but eventually they were both lying under the small coverings. Heero laid his back with Duo's head pillowed on his chest; each had an arm around the other's waist. Strangely, both pilots found it to be very natural feeling.

Tucking Duo more solidly against his chest, Heero closed his eyes and ordered Duo to sleep.

"Thank you." The American whispered.

Heero gave a snort. "Sleep, baka." Duo snuggled closer and almost immediately fell asleep.

One almond-shaped eye opened briefly. "You're welcome."

For the rest of the night and well into the morning, neither Heero nor Duo suffered from nightmares.

**January A.C.196**

It was because of Relena Dorlian that the hunters had found them, her uncanny ability to always follow them no matter where they went. The hunters were a group of fanatical men who sought to prove that vampires existed. They had yet to actually capture a vampire but for centuries they had been plaguing the Carpathians (a vampire-like people originally from Romania), targeting them, and trying to kill them. Mostly they preyed on humans that liked to play "vampire" for fun and on the rare occasion a human psychic. The Carpathians had been actively trying to stop the organization for over a thousand years, but with few of the members knowing more than a couple of names, destroying them had proven difficult.

Now it seemed, they had targeted the gundam pilots, probably because of Quatre's empathic ability.

They had been resting at the most recent safe house- a modest villa in the Italian countryside- for a couple of days. Wufei had received an impressive set of broken ribs on the last mission; a dozen Leos had come out of no where and fired upon the gundams, Shenlong taking the brunt of the attack being the closest.

Amazingly, Wufei's ribs had been the worst injury for all of the pilots, the rest sporting small cuts and bruises.

Heero's laptop beeped, breaking the tense silence within the room. The Japanese pilot moved quickly to it, his fingers flashing over the keys.

"We have company." All of them joined Heero at the computer.

"ETA?" asked Quatre, looking at the screen.

"Ten minutes." The teens looked at each other. "We have to run, it's too risky to stay here and fight. The gundams are hidden; we can leave them and go on foot through the hills."

"They're not OZ." Duo had been unusually silent over the past few days, now hearing how serious tone in his voice, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei had been wondering what was going on with their American comrade. Heero's eyes met the amethyst ones of his partner through the reflection on the screen. No, they weren't OZ. They were hunters and they had found them. The pilots had no choice but to run.

"If they're not OZ, who are they?" asked the blond Arabian.

"Focus in on the passenger seat of the first vehicle." Heero enhanced the images quickly.

Frank Morrison. Rumored leader of the society, the most fanatical of them all. Out to kill all "vampires" for the death of his son ten years ago.

"They're hunters. We have to leave now." Heero nodded and closed the laptop, following Duo's lead, knowing the "teen" had had more experience with the hunters than he had.

The others looked after the two bewilderedly before demanding an explanation.

"Look I'll explain later, but unless you want to be the subject of their next dissection class, we need to get out of here." Duo threw the words out over his shoulder.

Two minutes later the 5 pilots were running quickly through the forest. Their eyes were constantly moving, searching for a threat.

Shouts could be heard from behind them, the hunters were gaining on them. The sound of a helicopter flying above them could be heard. Heero, leading the pack, turned swiftly to east, heading for the river. If they could make it, there was a small town was only 3 kilometers away.

Just as their group rounded a large rock shelf, a net was thrown from above, sending all of them crashing to the forest floor.

The net seemed to be made of nothing the pilots had seen before. None of them could find away to break free of it.

Duo and Wufei were cursing like sailors before they heard the hiss of gas. It seeped through the mesh of the net, sleeping gas they realized as they struggled to stay awake.

Within seconds, darkness came rushing up to meet them, dropping them like flies.

One thought went through all of their minds. _Shit._

Duo groaned as he swam to consciousness. His head felt like a blacksmith had taken a hammer to it and didn't show any thought of stopping soon.

Reaching out with his mind, he scanned the area, searching for threats. The others were with him in what appeared to be a eight by 10 foot cell made of carbonized steel.

(THIS NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

//_Idiots. Don't they know that we can pass through such materials?_// Upon closer inspection, the walls of the cell were covered with a tranquilizing substance, if it touched their skin, they be unconscious within minutes.

Opening his eyes, the ancient could see that they were shackled to the walls with gundanium cuffs. //_Horrible position to be in though_// he thought as he tried to shift and felt the strain in his shoulders from having his arms in the air for a long period of time.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, looked like Heero was coming out of whatever they had been drugged with faster than Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei.

The Japanese pilot's eyes snapped open, taking stock of the situation they found themselves in. The stone-like eyes came to rest on Duo, acknowledging the ancient.

"Status?"

Duo smirked, "Clear but feeling the strain to be sure. Gundanium though, going to be a bit harder for you to get out of this time."

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

Heero glared at the cuffs distastefully, "Hn".

A groan came from Duo's right. Quatre was coming around.

"What hit me?"

"Some drug that's for sure, not a good mix though got as headache the size of Texas right now." Quipped Duo as he looked over that the blond.

"Silence" snapped Heero. The two instantly fell silent as they caught the sound of voices coming from outside of their cell. A loud grating noise echoed through the cell as the door was laboriously opened.

A thick-bodied man stepped through. His salt and pepper hair suggested that he was an older man, probably in his mid-fifties. He sauntered into the cell with confidence and maliciousness in his beady little eyes.

"Well, well, well. Look at the wonderful specimens that the Major has captured for us. We will finally be able to get our definitive proof for the world."

Duo snorted, "What've you been smokin' buddy? You think that we're just gonna let you desect us or somethin'? You gotta 'nother thing comin'."

The man turned red in the face with anger. "Silence, you despicable creature! It is because of your disgusting race that hundreds of humans have been killed. It will be your bodies that prove to the world that vampires exist and need to be exterminated!"

"Vampires?! Like Dracula?! Damn, you have been smokin' somethin'!" Laughed Duo humorously. The man's words had confirmed that he was of the organization that had been hunting his people for centuries.

Nodding to the chuckling pilot, the two thugs that had accompanied the man sprayed Duo with a kind of sedative and unchained him, dragging him between them both out of the cell.

The rotund man sneered at the furious pilots, "Enjoy your time here, it will be the last place you ever see."

Duo was dragged out of the cell and eventually deposited in a laboratory teeming with excited scientists.

The maniacal looking doctors crowded around the unconscious pilot as the burly thugs clamped his hands and feet to the operating table.

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

"A live specimen." The head scientist bore a grin that would send shivers down the most hardened of men. A protégée of the Nazi regime, the doctor was the most knowledgeable man on the physiology of vampires that the faction had. "We will enjoy learning much from such a perfect subject."

Turning back to their new experiment, the scientists began to hook up the overhead wires to the table where Duo lay seemingly unaware.

Unknown to the doctors and their mindless muscle, the Carpathian had already gleaned everything known them about "vampires" from their minds.

_//You sick fucks. You've killed dozens of innocent men and women in your quest to prove the existence of vampires. I will not allow this atrocity to continue any longer. You are a danger to too many people to live.// _

The brunette's eyes snapped open and glowed red with the beast that burned inside him.

The walls became drenched with blood and the screams of the victims of Shinigami's rage shattered the shocked silence though nothing was heard outside of the room.

As he came back to himself, the ancient wrinkled his nose in disgust at the blood that soaked his clothing. With a wave of his hand the blood vanished from his clothing and the room, the pieces of the doctors were burned and the ashes scattered into space.

Blurring his image, Duo made his way back to the cell. While he wished he was able to release his fellow pilots, the safety of his people was too paramount in this moment, he had the opportunity to destroy a major threat to them and he would take it with both hands.

Placing another layer upon his glamour, Duo "threw" himself into the cell, creating the illusion that the two thugs had returned him to the cell roughened up.

"Duo!" cried the cherub-like blond.

"I'm alright. Thugs didn't really do much, just toss me around a bit." Coughed the ancient. The brunette described what he had seen of the facility.

After sometime, their cell was opened again, gas was used to subdue them as they were released from their shackles and dragged down the hallways before being deposited in a lavish room, prostrated before a group of middle aged men, including the infamous Frank Morrison. Guns were aimed at their heads.

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

Duo immediately began sifting through the minds of the men in the room, gathering the information he needed on their movements, members, experiments, everything about their organization.

**Heero. When I give the signal, I'm going to release our bonds and turn the guns away from us. I need you to lead the others out of the facility while I deal with these guys. **Duo sent the mental map of the compound that he had stolen from the mens' minds to his partner.

Heero gave a small mental nod of acknowledgement and shifted slightly to ease into a better position.

**Now.**

The two burst into action, Duo controlling the soldiers and the older men that occupied the room while Heero and the others made their retreat.

Seconds after the four pilots had procured a vehicle, Duo caught up with them, jumping into the jeep just as Heero punched the accelerator.

Unfortunately for the teens, there were still guards on the perimeter walls to get through. As the ancient watched his comrades fire bullet after bullet and more soldiers kept coming, he made a split second decision that would change their fate forever.

Drawing up into a crouch, Duo snarled, "Save you bullets, these men are mine(1)," before he launched himself into the air, shifting into mist and dozens of bats that swarmed the sentries.

Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei watched in horrified fascination as the organization's beliefs came true. Vampires existed. And Duo was one of them.

Heero continued to drive the jeep as if nothing strange or supernatural had happened. He knew that there would have to be some explanations when they reached the safe house, however, now he only needed to get them there in one piece.

**Rendezvous at the following coordinates.**

**Roger that. **Acknowledged the Japanese pilot as he received the location of the safe house from his partner.

Duo glided along the air currents towards the safe house after he had dispatched the soldiers to his subterranean realm (2). His psychic senses doing radar sweeps over the surrounding land, searching for any disturbances.

A hole appeared on his psychic "radar". A blank spot.

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

//_Damn. This is just not my night. First human hunters, now an undead. Oh, joy.// _Thought the ancient as he regained his human form in the valley on the edge of the hole he had detected.

Dark clouds clustered overhead, blocking out the brightly shining moon.

"You came. I almost thought that you wouldn't, hunter." A voice in the shadows echoed across the open meadow.

"You have called for justice, unclean one. I am only here at your request." Replied the ancient, eyes trained upon the hidden figure in the trees. "Come, meet the dawn."

"As you wish…..brother." The tall figure stepped out from under the canopy of the trees, revealing long silver hair and sharply pointed ears.

Duo felt like he had been punched in the gut.

Victor.

His twin.

For his entire life Duo had searched for traces of his brother and sister. Hoped beyond all else that he had been able to buy them enough time to escape while the villagers had slaughtered their parents. Hoped that they had lived. His heart clenched at the knowledge of what his brother had become.

Nosferatu.

The undead.

Vampire.

"I searched for you. I never gave up hope." Duo stated as he drank in the sight of his beloved twin. Hoping to preserve the moment that they had before the beast that his brother had unleashed retook control of his body.

His mirror image gave a small smile. "I know you did. I never doubted that you would search for Rosalynn and I." His eyes grew sorrowful. "But now it is time for you to do your duty, my brother."

Tears gathered in the ancient's eyes. After so many millennia of looking for his twin, he'd finally been reunited with him and now he had to kill him. To end the poison he'd unleashed upon the world.

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

"Why? Why did you turn, Vic? We promised each other."

Victor smiled. "We did. But it's too late for me now, Valken. They've killed my mate. I have nothing left. I wasn't strong enough to resist the beast any longer. It must be you who finishes the fight." The silver-haired man lunged, striking out at the shorter brunette.

Duo deftly dodged the attacks, they circled each other, gaining hits and spilling each other's blood.

Duo cried out in anguish, "Please! Don't make me do this!"

"You must! You are the only one strong enough to defeat me!" screamed his brother, opening himself up for the attack that would end his life. Both men screamed as Duo's talons sank deep into Victor's heart.

Collapsing to the ground, Duo cradled his twin's body in his arms, tears of blood streaking his face.

Blood darkened Victor's lips as he smiled up at his older brother. "Thank you. I now can see my Emily again."

A sob escaped Duo. A pale hand cupped the brunette's face. "Merge with me?" asked Victor.

Giving a tearful nod, the twins merged their minds, sharing their memories. Their joy. Their sorrow. Their anger. They bonded together as brothers for the first time in fifty thousand years, and for the last time.

As dawn light began to paint the valley rosy colours, Victor looked up at Duo and asked, "Protect my son, Severus. Please?" The older twin nodded. "Thank you. I love you, big brother." Victor whispered as the dawn touched his body and he turned to ash.

A primal scream ripped from the ancient's throat as he yelled out his grief for the brother he had just found again and lost. His form was wracked with violent sobs.

Duo didn't know how long he sat in the valley rocking back and forth. But as he looked up into the sky and saw the last brightly shining dawn star, he swore an oath to his deceased brother.

"I'll protect our family, Vic. I promise."

The wind brushed his face and a feeling of acceptance filled him. Victor had heard him and would await him on the other side until it was his time.

(NOT A SCENE CHANGE!)

Wiping his face, Duo slowly got to his feet and began the long trek to the latest safe house, feeling heart wounded but secure in the knowledge that he would see his brother again one day.

When he reached the edge of the property, Wufei was waiting for him.

"We want answers." The Chinese pilot glared darkly at the brunette.

Unwilling to do more than nod, the American followed him into the kitchen where Quatre and Trowa were waiting.

_//Let the interrogation begin.// _

(AN: THIS** IS** A SCENE CHANGE!!!!)

Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei all glared at Duo from across the kitchen. The smell of anger was prominent within the room, centered on the three pilots sitting at the table; all of them were feeling betrayed by the secrets their comrade had kept from them.

"How could you keep this from us? We trusted you to watch our backs, not to keep secrets from us. Especially one such as this! We let you into our homes and our lives, into our families! And you betray us by keeping something so important to yourself. After everything we've been through together, you'd think that you wouldn't keep things from us. We're family, Duo. At least I thought we were." Spat Quatre angrily.

Duo continued to lean against the wall, not even blinking at the verbal abuse coming from his fellow pilots. **"**What do you want me to say, Quatre? That I'm sorry? Sorry for being what I am? For being born without human blood in my veins. I will not apologize for who and what I am. Not to you, not to anyone."

"Hypocrite. You preach about always telling the truth and never lying. Yet here you stand, openly admitting the fact that you lied to us. That you are not what you say you are. You use unnatural abilities to achieve your goals. Who knows what you could have used on us without us knowing it? You flit around the world, a freak of nature, pretending to be like us. How dare you say that you do not lie!" Wufei was cut off by Duo before he could really get into one of his justice rants.

"I have never lied! Not once, in the time we have known each other have I lied to anyone in this room. Yes, I have kept things from you, but I have never lied. I have never told you about my life, none of you have ever asked. What did you expect me to do? Come straight out after a few months and say that I'm not human? That I am able to become mist, change my form to that of any animal I choose, and that I can move faster than the speed of light? Would you have told us?"

"Omission is as bad as straight out lying. You lied to all of us about what you are. How can we honestly say that we even know you?" the normally silent European pilot asked. 

"I can't answer that. Only you can."

Quatre shook his head, unwilling to accept the American's explanations. "That is of no consequence now. You're a risk to all of us. How can we know that you're not working for the other side? How can we trust you? We want you gone."

Something within the brunette stilled, became masked by the blank look on his face. As if he was attempting to fortify his walls against the final attack. "Is this the consensus of the group?"

Exchanging looks with Trowa and Wufei, the blond strategist nodded. "Yes."

"If that is what you wish, then I will go. I am sorry for the inconvenience my presence has caused you." Duo's body seemed to dissolve into what could only be described as iridescent mist and streamed from the house.

"It is better this way. Safer for all of us." Said Quatre, as if trying to reassure himself that they had done the right thing by sending Duo away. It hurt all of them that Duo had kept such important information from them. They had all been close to Duo; his betrayal would take a long time to heal, if it ever did.

When Heero entered the safe house after checking the parameter, he knew something terrible had happened. The air was thick with tension; undercurrents of anger and betrayal threatened to overwhelm his psychic senses.

He found Quatre, Trowa and Wufei in the kitchen; Quatre was pacing like an irritated tiger, unusual for the normally passive blond. Trowa was leaning against the wall, his face expressionless but one could read anger and –remorse?- in his body language. Wufei was muttering to himself as he stared at the table.

The American pilot was strangely absent from the room. From the psychic impressions, Heero could see that the anger was directed at their American comrade.

Discretely siphoning the memories of what had happened from the kitchen walls by leaning against the doorframe, Heero felt the rage within him grow. How dare they accuse Duo of such things after all he had done to protect them from natural and supernatural enemies?!

Giving his patented Death Glare, Heero rushed upstairs to find Duo. He found the brunette in their shared room stuffing clothes into his duffel bag.

"You're leaving." Duo stopped at the soft words and turned towards his partner with sad eyes.

"We knew this could happen if they found out. We just didn't think it would be on their terms."

Tentatively placing a hand on the American's wrist. "You don't need to leave, we can work this out. Find another solution."

Strong fingers intertwined with Heero's, dark amethyst eyes met sapphire as a weak smile graced elfin features.

"It will tear the group apart if I stay, they'll become suspicious of you as well." Duo briefly turned away, squeezing Heero's hand to give a measure of comfort. "I would stay if I thought that it wouldn't destroy everything we've worked for."

Heero nodded in understanding, despite what was going on within their group, they couldn't risk becoming enemies, they knew too much about each other.

"If you begin to suspect that they're watching you, go to your sister's, they won't be able to find you there." (AN: remember that Keara/Cassandra is Heero's "sister")

"What will you do?"

"Howard will help me set up, he'll know how to get a hold of me….I'll stay with him for now and help with the war. After that….we'll see."

Hesitating a moment, Duo took out his cross and fiddled with it until it separated into two pieces. He conjured a chain and slid the second smaller piece onto it. Slipping it over Heero's head, it came to rest against his collarbone.

"This will keep you safe should the hunters try and come after you. It also serves as a homing beacon for our link. It will let us know if either of us get hurt without alerting Quatre or anyone else."

Heero nodded then pulled the American into his arms. Arms tightened, desperately trying to hold onto each other but knowing they'd have to let go.

"Take care of yourself, old man."

Duo gave a strangled laugh. "Always."

Reluctantly, they let go and took a step back. Grabbing his bag, Duo took a few more steps back, still refusing to let go of the Japanese pilot's hand. Giving one last slightly watery smile, Duo released Heero's hand, dissolved into mist and floated out the open window.

The Japanese pilot heard a hawk's anguished cry split the silence as it winged upwards into the night, intent on its destination.

Already Heero could feel the strain on their mental bond, a familiar feeling recently with the number of missions they had had. It would only become worse with the coming weeks as Heero needed to merge his mind with Duo's at least once a day to reinforce his mental shielding, but they would be unable to do so because of Heero's close proximity to Quatre and his empathic abilities.

As Heero was only a third of the way through his official training, he would only be able to keep the visions at bay for a few hours, it would become less as Heero wouldn't be able to properly rest without Duo nearby.

The weeks went by slowly for Heero, despite the constant actively. OZ had decided that it was time for a more active position against Earth.

Each day there was a new attack to be dealt with, providing little downtime for the pilots. All of them were suffering from various injuries, lack of sleep, and lack of consistent meals. Heero was also suffering from numerous visions and mental overload that continually plagued him. His only respite was the odd times that he was able to merge with Duo, usually during sniper missions where Heero was separated from the rest of the pilots.

Even with these mergings, Heero was growing weaker by the day, far faster than the other pilots. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei adamantly refused to even consider having Duo rejoin the group, they went so far as to actively oppose him on the battlefield.

It was growing to be too much for the young seer. The visions, hunger, exhaustion, overload, injuries, and the other pilots' anger had taken its toll on him. He was pale from exhaustion and constant mental battery; his body looked to be that of a skeleton's. Heero was likely to collapse from the pressure long before the war was ever going to be over.

It was mid February when the pilots were able to have their first downtime-all of four days- in the last two months.

Heero headed for Howard's fleet of Sweeper ships, having received an invitation for an overhaul on Wing and some much need time with his family. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei declined the invitation on the grounds that the Maguanics were capable of handling their suits, the reality was that they didn't want to be in contact with one of HIS friends.

At the end of his three week mission, Heero arrived at dawn on Howard's flagship, the "Mary Rose".

Rappelling down from his gundam, the Japanese pilot was greeted by the boss man himself.

"About time you got here, soldier boy! There's people waiting for you in the mess hall."

"Thank you for letting me come, Howard."

The loud shirted man grinned and motioned him towards the crew quarters. "Anytime, soldier boy, anytime!"

Once he entered the mess hall, Heero was nearly bowled over by his brothers and sisters, all 18 of them. (AN: I know I haven't really mentioned his siblings before, but it will be explained in the following chapter.) It had been five months since Heero had seen any of his siblings, he was grateful to Howard for bringing them in for his downtime.

"We've missed you so much, Heero!" Each of his siblings demanded a hug before dragging him to sit on the couch in the lounge.

Aidan tucked in tight to his left side, while Bronwyn was tucked into his right side. Cassandra (AN: Keara) dropped into his lap before kissing his cheek and grabbing a seat nearby.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was filled with the chattering of his family, and briefly Heero forgot his exhaustion and hunger, at least until Cassandra passed him a plate full of food, which he promptly devoured.

Around nine, Deacon, Caitlyn, and Cassandra ushered the little ones off to bed before returning to the lounge. When they returned, they found Heero, Aidan, and Bronwyn asleep on the couch. Knowing the three would sleep better in a bed, especially Heero who would likely be out for a few days.

Using a combination of Craft and brute force, the three oldest maneuvered Bronwyn into her bed but were unable to separate Heero and Aidan. Shrugging, they left them to sleep.

The next morning…..

When Heero woke, he felt refreshed for the first time in months, no visions had plagued his sleep and though he wasn't yet 100, he felt far better than he had.

Feeling the warm breath skate across his chest and the warm weight of a body curled nearly on top of his, Heero opened his eyes to find his younger brother and secondary anchor, Aidan, sleeping peacefully.

Smiling slightly, Heero pressed a kiss to the top of Aidan's head before tightening his arms around his brother and fell contently back to sleep. (AN: No they don't have an incestuous relationship, they're just really close and really good friends, and there is another reason but that's also going to be explained in the next chapter.)

The second time Heero woke, he found his twin, Cassandra, sitting beside him gently running her fingers through Aidan's golden locks.

"Hey." Her sapphire eyes met her brother's as she smiled.

"Hey yourself. You've been out for nearly two days. So has he coincidently." Heero looked down at his sleeping brother.

"I don't doubt it. He's always been sensitive to what happens to me." His eyes turned back to his sister, taking in the dark bruises under her eyes and the paleness of her skin.

"You've been feeling it too." She nodded.

"Yes, but not as bad as Aidan. He feels it more than both me and Bryn. He's nearly as sensitive to you as Duo is."

"You've been well otherwise?" he asked.

"Yes, as have the others. We've missed you, Heero. You've been gone so long this time."

"I know. It will be over soon. I can feel it. I'm not sure exactly, when but soon. We will all be together then."

She smiled, happy at the thought of having her twin come home. "We all need you with us, Heero. The younger ones, they look up to you, they want you to be proud of them. Aidan the most. You're the one he wants so badly to be proud of him. You know more about him than any of us, he trusts you more."

Running his hand gently up and down Aidan's back, Heero contemplated his sister's words.

"He does, doesn't he? Even when we're all together, he sticks by me more," He gestured at his sleeping form, "He likes to be touching, curling up next to me. And his parents disapprove of him; berate him until he's unsure of who he is and what he wants." Sapphire eyes darken at the memories of Aidan curled on his bed crying at the harsh words of his parents.

"I am proud of him. Despite everything that his parents and people in general have said about him, he's still one of the kindest people you'll ever meet when he should be one of the most bitter."

Cassandra smiled and ran her fingers one last time through the shining locks. "Rest some more, you have time." She smiled mischievously, "I managed to get a week's time off for you, on top of your four days."

Heero smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Keara."

"Anytime, big brother, anytime. Besides, it's Paul's birthday in two days and it would mean he world to him if you were here." Cassandra rose and moved towards the door. Before she left, she said, " Sleep well , we'll still be here when you wake. But when you do, we get to stuff you silly. You're skin and bones! Deal?"

Heero nodded, "Deal".

Cassandra grinned and left, leaving the two to sleep.

"You can open your eyes now, Aidan."

Hazel eyes looked guiltily up at the stoic teen.

"Are you mad at me for listening in on your conversation with Cassie?" he whispered, afraid of Heero's answer.

Heero shifted around until he and Aidan were facing each other. "I will never be angry at you for listening to something you needed to hear. Okay?"

Aidan smiled brightly and nodded, happy that his brother wasn't upset with him.

"You haven't been well, Heero. I can feel your exhaustion and pain from you visions. Why isn't Duo helping you anymore? Couldn't he come with you? If not to visit, then at least to keep the visions at bay? I don't' want you to hurt, Heero." Aidan spoke quietly, as if unsure of whether or not he should have been asking questions of his soldier brother.

"No, I haven't been well. The missions have taken their toll, and the visions seem to be getting stronger with each passing week."

"But why isn't Duo helping you?! I know he can!" Tears filled Aidan's eyes at the pain of watching the Japanese pilot suffer.

"Duo helps me on the rare time we both have a few minutes between missions. But the distance between us strains the merging; he can't shield me like he could when we aren't in contact anymore. The initial shielding is still there but the majority no longer is. Though your presence seems to be helping to lessen them."

"Good." Aidan stated before resting his head over Heero's heart.

Silence settled over the room, allowing the two to simply enjoy each other's company.

"Heero?"

"Hai?"

"When will you be coming home for good?"

Heero sighed and closed his eyes before answering, He had been dreading that question.

"Soon. Very soon." _I hope._

"Good. Will Duo come too? To live with us? Then you never have to worry about your visions 'cause you'll have Duo, Cassie, Bryn, and me to help you. And he's you partner, you should stay together. You're family."

"Maybe. Why don't we ask when we see him next?" _It would be nice to all be together. Though I don't know how the elders would handle Duo and I sharing a bed. _

"Okay. We'll ask him."

"Go to sleep, brat. We need to sleep if we're going to be faced with Bryn and Sarah's cooking."

"'K. Night, Heero."

"Night, boyo"

Shifting a little, the two settled down for a few more hours of sleep, neither knowing of the horrors to come.

REVIEW!


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